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Courtesy: Duke Photography
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DURHAM, N.C. - The big three of Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler saved one of their best combined performances for one of the biggest games of the season.
The three-headed monster of Scheyer, Smith and Singler combined for 65 points, led by Singler with 25 and Scheyer and Smith with 20 each.
It was the first time this season that all three players scored over 20 points.
"Everybody that came into the game played as if it were their senior night," Smith said. "That was just a great feeling. Everybody had the emotion, passion, fire that the seniors had."
And since it came against North Carolina, it meant a little more.
"We knew we had to come out and fight for 40 minutes and basically just put them away," Smith said.
Duke's 82-50 thumping of their cross-town rivals capped a perfect season from Cameron Indoor Stadium and earned the Blue Devils a No. 1 seed when the ACC Tournament kicks off next week from Greensboro.
The Blue Devils finished the regular season as ACC Champions with a 26-5 (13-3 ACC) record and a 17-0 record from Cameron, which is the first time any Duke team has won 17 games from the historic venue.
"Going undefeated at home, this team deserves it," said Smith. "We have been playing really good basketball so it is a great feeling."
The regular season ACC Championship was the first for the senior class of Scheyer, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek and Jordan Davidson.
"They won an ACC championship last year, but to do it in the regular season, they have something that will be there forever," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We talked about that yesterday. Today wasn't a game against North Carolina. Duke and North Carolina games are great, don't get me wrong, but it's not forever, unless it's for a part of a championship or an outright championship. That's the bigger picture."
Duke fired away from the three-point line early, with Scheyer hitting the first with Smith assisting. Singler hit the second with Scheyer assisting. Smith hit the third with Singler assisting, and then Scheyer made all three free throws after he was fouled on a three point attempt.
Those were Duke's first four possessions of the game as they jumped out to a 12-3 lead.
"I just thought right from the beginning, we shared the ball so well," Krzyzewski said. "We had open threes and the thing we remind our guys after the first TV timeout because we hit I think four threes, it's not going to be just three-point shooting. You don't want to fall into that trap."
Duke didn't fall into that trap. For the rest of the game, the Blue Devils attacked the Tar Heels from all over the court. Singler and Smith pick and chose their moments, knocking down mid-range jumpers and attacking the basket. Scheyer used his toughness and maturity to attack the basket and draw fouls. The senior finished 9-of-9 from the free throw line.
Singler ended 8-of-17 from the field and Smith shot 7-of-16 and handed out five assists.
"I don't know what else you could ask for," Scheyer said. "Our team, everybody played well, I played okay and we won, we won by a lot. The crowd was unbelievable. It was just not a better game to play in."
Duke scored 53 points in the first half shooting 16-of-31 from the field and 7-of-13 from the three-point line.
"We just got into a flow, we were playing great defense, and we were knocking down shots," Singler said.
Duke's defense held the Tar Heels to 26 points in the first half and 24 in the second. North Carolina ended the game shooting just 33 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 37-28 by the Blue Devils.
In the second half, the Blue Devils slowed the game down, limited mistakes, committing just two turnovers after halftime.
"We really cared for the ball offensively," Krzyzewski said. "Our two guards had no turnovers. Jon [Scheyer] had seven assists and no [turnovers] and Nolan [Smith] had five assists and no [turnovers]. Those three veterans on the perimeter set the stage in the first half with how they passed and moved and worked with one another."
With about seven or eight minutes left and Duke safely ahead by 30 Scheyer finally relaxed a little.
"When we were up 30, I felt pretty good we could hold onto that lead," Scheyer said. "The whole game I felt really confident. I felt really confident in our team. We played really well."
"I am going to enjoy it though tonight and a little bit tomorrow, obviously I have cherished every moment playing here," he added.
Next up for Duke is the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils will play the winner of the 8th versus 9th seeds on Friday from Greensboro.
"This definitely gives us a lot of confidence going forward getting the No. 1 seed," Smith said. "We just have to get back to work now. Now it basically starts over. It is going to be two tournaments where it's one and down going forward."
Carlyle Cup: The win over UNC was worth another point in the Carlyle Cupe for Duke. The Blue Devils trail the Tar Heels 10-6.5 entering the bulk of the spring season in the all-sports competition.
