Haywood Wins It for the Tar Heels
North Carolina senior center Brendan Haywood had a lot on his mind when he stepped to the free-throw line with 1.2 seconds left at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C., Thursday night.
The game between No. 4-ranked North Carolina and No. 2 Duke was tied, and Haywood--a 48% free-throw shooter this season--was thinking about when he missed two free throws late as a freshman in a two-point loss to Duke.
This time, however, Haywood made both free throws to give North Carolina an 85-83 victory in the latest chapter of one of the greatest rivalries in college basketball.
“I was definitely remembering those free throws. That was the first thing that was running through my mind,” Haywood said. “But I just had to focus and go ahead and follow through and think of my mechanics. Luckily, they went in for me. There’s a lot to be said about luck.”
North Carolina, 18-2 overall and 8-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, won its 15th consecutive game and ended Duke’s winning streak at five games in the series. The loss also ended an overall winning streak at nine for the Blue Devils (19-2, 7-1).
Haywood’s free-throw success came on a night when Duke was an uncharacteristic 13 for 27 from the line. The Blue Devils also shot 38% from the floor and made only 12 of 35 three-point shots.
Still, Duke was tied with North Carolina at 83-83 after Michael Dunleavy made a three-point shot with 3.9 seconds left. Haywood was sent to the line when Shane Battier crashed into him while going for a long inbounds pass.
“I was just trying to make a play on the ball like a defensive back would,” Battier said. “I got called for pass interference I guess.”
Duke called a timeout after Haywood’s free throws, and the final play drawn by Coach Mike Krzyzewski almost worked.
Dunleavy inbounded the ball from the baseline and barely got it to Chris Duhon near midcourt. Duhon’s heave hit the back of the rim.
“North Carolina played a great basketball game and I thought we played really well but we didn’t shoot the ball well, especially from the foul line and that’s been a huge thing for us,” Krzyzewski said. “I think the emotion of the game, sometimes you want it too much and that’s what I sensed from our kids right from the beginning. They were too ready, too emotional.”
Joseph Forte led North Carolina had 24 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while Haywood had 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Duke’s Jason Williams had 32 points.
OTHER TOP 25 GAMES
Hawaii (9-10, 3-5 in the Western Athletic Conference) got 29 points from Mindaugas Burneika in a 91-73 victory over No. 19 Fresno State (17-2, 6-1) at Honolulu. . . . James Jones made five of seven three-point shots and scored a career-high 21 points to lead Miami (11-9, 3-6 in the Big East) to a 72-66 victory over No. 22 Seton Hall (12-7, 3-5) at Miami. Jones, a sophomore forward averaging 10.6 points, made six of nine shots and scored 16 points in the first half to help Miami take a 37-29 lead. Jones also teamed with Dwayne Wimbley to hold Seton Hall’s leading scorer, Eddie Griffin, to 12 points, seven below his average.