Rival Edition: UNC Beats Duke at Cameron Indoor

by The DugOut | February 8, 2007 at 11:18 am

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Duke fans might never admit it, but they are surely hurting after losing to arch-rival North Carolina. The Tarheels are one of the nations top teams heading into March madness and handed Duke's infamously crazy fans a third consecutive loss. Some might say, What in the wide, wide world of sports is a-going-on-here?" Duke dropping three in a row for the first time since the 94-95 season is a tough one to swallow, and losing it to your biggest rival at home just makes the pill more bitter...

I would imagine that the fans in Chapel Hill had a great night of celebrating over this huge win. Did anyone catch any of the action with their cameras.

Freshman Brandan Wright scored 19 points while Tyler Hansbrough added 16 to lead the fifth-ranked Tar Heels past No. 16 Duke 79-73, earning their second straight win in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Rookie Ty Lawson added 15 points for the Tar Heels (21-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who trailed by 10 points early in the second half before finally going ahead to stay in the final minutes.

So has this rivalry, at least for one year, officially jumped the shark? Is Duke so violently mediocre that the school has faded its way out of our public consciousness? Have the Dukies fallen so far that we officially feel bad sandbagging them? Is this the beginning of the end of this Duke hating era or just a yearlong aberration?

This rivalry day game may mean more than any midseason Duke-UNC matchup ever has. It’s not just for the superficial, hazing-ritual reasons listed above either. This game, especially if Dick Vitale and Brent Musberger pick up on how Duke will be a lackluster 5-5 in ACC play with a loss, could dissuade any potential recruit. This could make up his mind. Duke is on the downswing; teams like UNC and USC (playing UCLA tonight) are the future of college basketball.