Duke smothers UNC, dealing 11th loss to the Tarholez

Jon Scheyer scored 24 points and #8 Duke pulled away in the final minutes to beat North Carolina 64-54 on Wednesday night.

Kyle Singler added 19 points for the Blue Devils (20-4, 8-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot poorly all night and couldn't make much of anything in close. But boasting a bigger and tougher front line than in years past, Duke dominated the boards and got plenty of extra looks to make up for all those misses.

Duke hit nine 3-pointers, but shot 32 percent overall and went 13 for 51 (25 percent) from inside the arc.

The loss only added to the defending national champions' misery in a season that is slipping away. North Carolina (13-11, 2-7) has lost eight of 10 since the start of 2010, including four in a row overall to fall near the bottom of the league standings.

Will Graves scored 13 points to lead the Tar Heels.

The rivalry game might have lost some luster this time around due to North Carolina's struggles and Duke looking like a good team. Both schools had been ranked in the top 10 in the past four meetings, but North Carolina - which started the season at No. 6 and as co-ACC favorite with Duke - fell out of the poll two weeks ago.

Still, this one ended up fitting right in with college basketball's fiercest rivalry when it came to intensity and fight. Neither team led by more than six points in the first 30 minutes and they were tied with about 8 minutes left before the Blue Devils finally took control.

Duke finished with a 51-42 rebounding advantage and converted 23 offensive rebounds into 21 second-chance points, baskets that repeatedly drained the momentum building when the Tar Heels appeared on the verge of a defensive stop, however, weakness ensued over the Tarhole bench, and Roy 'Choke' Williams let another game slip away.

Hey Roy, I hear that Pat Summit from Tennessee is wanting to coach Men's BBall, I'm sure she would interview you for an assistant coach's position... You should check look into it.