University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Duke
UNC Mounts Huge Comeback But Falls To Duke In OT
February 3, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 3, 2000
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - Overtime was strictly foreign territory to Duke last season - the Blue Devils steamrolled most opponents by halftime.
Now overtime seems to come all the time.
And Duke has proved it can win the close ones. On Thursday night, the No. 3 lue Devils beat North Carolina 90-86, giving Duke its fourth overtime win of the season.
"We've got a lot of heart. That's why we win games in overtime," said Chris Carrawell, the team's only senior starter. "Last year's team was great, but when it got tough we lost. We lost to Cincinnati and to Connecticut. This year's team is building some character in overtime."
Duke (17-2, 8-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) blew a 19-point second-half lead, but got 25 points from Shane Battier, 23 from Carrawell and seven from Carlos oozer in the overtime to beat the Tar Heels (13-9, 4-4).
The Blue Devils extended their record with their 30th straight ACC regular-season victory.
"It's almost like overtime is old hat for this team," said Battier, who also had 10 rebounds and two steals. "It seems like we've been there every week.
"We were calm, even though Carolina was hitting some big shots and making the big run. Not at one point did we look frazzled," Battier added. "Even the young guys looked pretty stoic. So, as soon as it went into overtime we decided it was our time."
The Blue Devils scored on their first six possessions in the overtime and never trailed after North Carolina's Joseph Forte sent the game into the extra period at 73-73 with a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left.
"We could have easily put our heads down when it went into overtime," Carrawell said. "I know I was saying, `Oh God, not here, not now.' But we stuck in there and we fought."
Mike Dunleavy iced the game with two free throws with 6.7 seconds left in overtime and Duke clinging to a two-point lead.
"We told our team at halftime that a program as great as North Carolina's and the kids who play here aren't going to back down, they are going to come out at us and they did," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said of North Carolina's rally. "I didn't think we backed down, either."
The victory was Duke's 17th straight overall and 16th consecutive ACC road victory, placing the Blue Devils three games in front of North Carolina State and Virginia in the race for first place in the ACC.
"I don't want to say it's over, but it's over," Carrawell said of the ACC race.
Battier scored 14 points in the first half as Duke bolted to a 17-point halftime lead over the turnover-prone Tar Heels, who came into the 205th meeting of the local rivals unranked for the first time since 1990.
But the Tar Heels staged a furious second-half rally, scoring on 19 of their final 22 possessions of regulation to more than throw a scare into the red-hot lue Devils.
Ed Cota led the Tar Heels with 21 points, while Forte had 20. "We've gotten better, but we've got to win some games," said North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge, whose club has now lost four games by five points or less.
The Duke loss was also the fourth this season at the Smith Center - the most for the Tar Heels at home since 1951-52.
