Duke tops North Carolina behind huge effort from Lively

By Brian Murphy, WRAL sports reporter

North Carolina Tar Heels	57
Duke Blue Devils	63
Final

Durham, N.C. — Freshman Dereck Lively II had 14 rebounds, eight blocked shots and a monster putback dunk late to give Duke a hard-fought 63-57 victory over North Carolina on Saturday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium, winning the first meeting between the rivals since the Tar Heels defeated Duke in last year's national semifinals.

The Tar Heels spoiled legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's final home game and his final game overall last spring, but new head coach Jon Scheyer earned a victory in his first game against UNC with a huge effort from Lively and guard Jeremy Roach.

Lively, a 7-foot-1 center, had just four points, all on dunks but impacted the game throughout. Lively had five offensive rebounds and nine defensive rebounds in 34 minutes, a season-high. His previous season high was 23 minutes.

"Dereck Lively just changed the game, his rim protection," said Scheyer, a former Duke player and assistant coach who took over for Krzyzewski this season. "For Dereck getting hurt in the preseason, continuing to just battle through, finding his rhythm and to do what he did today, one, I'm not surprised because he's worked incredibly hard ... and two, I'm just proud of him."

Lively, one of the top recruits in the country, missed time earlier in the season with a calf injury. His previous season high in blocks was five and he entered the game second in the conference at two blocks per game.

"That's just something I've always been able to do," Lively said. "I haven't been able to be as offensive-driven as every other player here. I got my own way to get on this team. I get my rebounds, I get my blocks. I do the dirty work."

Lively blocked four shots in each half. He blocked UNC center Armando Bacot twice on one possession early on and it impacted how the Tar Heels attacked the basket.

"He made it tough for us to finish over him," said UNC guard RJ Davis, who was 5-of-16 from the field and 1-of-5 from 3-point range. "His ability to change our shots up and be down in the paint was effective for them."

Roach, the only Duke player left from last year, scored a game-high 20 points, including a diving lay-up in the final 30 seconds to put Duke up four points and two final free throws. He played all 40 minutes.

Four Tar Heels scored in double figures, led by Armando Bacot with 14 points. Leaky Black had 13 points and hit three 3-pointers, including two in the second half to keep Duke within reach of the Tar Heels.

The game was billed as the beginning of a new era in the storied Duke-North Carolina men's basketball rivalry.

But Saturday not much appeared to have changed. A raucous crowd, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, packed Cameron Indoor Stadium and witnessed an intense game throughout.

Neither team led by more than seven points at any point.

"It was just a great atmosphere to be in," Lively said.

Said Davis: "The rivalry will always remain the same, the energy and anticipation will always be there."

Duke improved to 17-6 overall and 8-4 in the ACC. UNC, the preseason No. 1 team in the nation, fell to 15-8 and 7-5 in the ACC.

Duke played without forward Dariq Whitehead, who missed his third straight game after suffering a sprain in his lower left leg against Virginia Tech on Jan. 23. Whitehead warmed up before the game, but Scheyer said he is not certain about Whitehead's status for Monday's game against Miami.

Puff Johnson was back in action for UNC for the first time since Jan. 17. He played 16 points and scored three points.

UNC shot just three free throws in the game. The Tar Heels entered Saturday with 543 free-throw attempts, nearly 100 more than anyone else in the ACC (Wake Forest, 450). UNC's previous low for attempts this season was 12 against Virginia.

Duke was 11-of-15 from the line.

"With us being by far the best in the conference at getting to the free throw line, our best guy that gets to the free throw line is Armando. He got to the free throw line twice," Hubert Davis said. "I'm just stating a fact that we shot 150 more free throws than anybody in the conference and tonight we only shot three."