Vitamin Water's ads have been hit and miss. I enjoyed the Lebron courtroom one, but couldn't stand the Super Bowl dancing spot. Well their latest effort is back in the good category. They got former Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino and former Duke player Christian Laettner to recreate the famous 1992 East Regional game between the two teams. Via RTC....

HBO Sports has been putting together a nice collection of rivalry documentaries, with the last being a look at Ohio State and Michigan, and their latest should be just as interesting. The network will be delving into the dynamic that is Duke-UNC, titled "Battle for Tobacco Road", and they've got a pretty impressive lineup of cameos. Via HBO PR....

Separated by fewer than ten miles, the two schools have been going at it on the hardwood since 1920. But over the past 25 years, their heated competition has steadily grown in intensity, with Duke and North Carolina gearing up each season to reach a common goal: to beat their archrival twice in the regular season, regardless of rankings or won-loss records. These two Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouses frequently dominate the conference standings, and routinely compete for the top spot in the national polls. Remarkably, since the NCAA Tournament expanded to its current configuration in 1985, these two schools alone have combined for more national titles (five) and made more Final Four appearances (18), than any other entire conference.

The high-profile list of interviewees from the Blue Devils and Tar Heels programs weighing in on the intense rivalry in BATTLE FOR TOBACCO ROAD: DUKE VS. CAROLINA includes: Hall of Fame coaches Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski; players Michael Jordan, James Worthy, Charlie Scott, Larry Brown, Art Heyman, Kenny Smith, Phil Ford, Eric Montross, Mitch Kupchak, Chris Collins, Grant Hill, Alaa Abdlenaby, Jay Bilas, Mike Gminski, Johnny Dawkins, Brian Davis, J.J. Redick, Jeff Capel and Christian Laettner; commentators Jim Lampley and Seth Davis; former Duke athletic director Tom Butters; and current Tar Heels coach Roy Williams.

I don't know what it is about Greg Paulus, maybe it's his scent, but he attracts some of the largest dunks/teabags to his face. Last week it was Wake's Jerai Grant dunking all over the Duke guard, and today you can add Miami's Dwayne Collins to the list....

There will probably be a ton of great plotlines this NCAA Basketball season, and I'm sure Duke versus UNC will be one of them, but this is just waaaaay too over-the-top for my tastes. Friar Blog noticed an interesting countdown going on over at CBSSports.com and naturally it's for a game that's over three months away and isn't even going to be aired on the network. That's right people UNC-Duke is just 91 Days, 5 Hours, 5 minutes and 59 seconds....58....57....56....away!


How lame is that? And you were sitting there thinking that ESPN was the only network that shoved certain teams down your throat. Shame on you!

You Thought ESPN Had a Hard-on for Duke-UNC? (Friar Blog)

This time it's good news, but National Media might be a stretch. ESPNU plans to air the first game back for the Duke Lacrosse program after the whole rape issue forced them to shutdown last season.

Now with new coach John Danowski, whose son Matt is a team co-captain, the team will lead off ESPNU's expanded lacrosse coverage. Additions this year include a lacrosse studio show and coverage of all 15 games in the NCAA Division I tournament — including three on ESPN or ESPN2.

So now it's time for the second half, Duke leads 39-34. The songs suffled onto my iPod were All Along the Watchtower and Higher Ground.

Duke ball to start. Paulus wide open off of a screen and flips it up with 1 hand-good. Wright scores before I could finish that first sentence. Zoubeck is called for another travel. Lawson misses a layup, the ball is tipped out of bounds to Duke. Foul away from the ball on UNC. The pass into the middle is tipped away-to henderson-to Paulus, who makes the 3. Henderson steals the pass on the next possesion, and dunks itwith one hand and now Vitale has lost it. Wright scores again, he has 12. McClure for 3 no good, rebound McRoberts, who hits McClure as he's on his ass, foul on Terry. Pass into the middle to McRoberts who makes the layup. Duke by 10. Hansbrough is doubled, so he kicks it out to Ellington for 3, no good, rebound McRoberts, over the back call on Hansborough. Paulus hits Scheyer cross court no good. UNC drives and Wright misses the bank shot. Pass stolen and layup is made by Lawson, just a bad pass there. Nelson drains another jumper. Foul in the lane...blocking on Scheyer, two shots for Wright. He splits them and is subbed out for Hansbrough. Paulus misses the 3 but McClure gets the offensive board. McClure gets the ball stolen from him and its a fast break again, but Nelson tips the ball out of bounds. Another exciting start to the half, as Vitale thinks it'll be "something special." Duke 50-41.

Dick Groat-what a rough name. And what a rough camera angle this is. Terry misses the jumper, but Ginyard rebounds. Hansbrough draws the blocking foul on McRoberts. Perfect backdoor pass for the...missed dunk by Terry. Nelson is called for a palming violation. I've seen everything today. What happened to the good old days where there were no traveling, carrying, or palming? Hansbrough gets the ball in the post, misses, but draws the foul on McRoberts, his 3rd. Hansbrough has no rebounds and 6 points after the 2 made ft's. Scheyer is double teamed, so he takes about 5 steps and then steps on the line. Hansbrough triple teamed and the ball is stolen by Paulus. Henderson drives and is blocked, but Duke rebounds. Coach K is bitching to the refs, trying to milk more time onto the shot clock. Scheyer is wide open, but misses the three. Scheyer reaches in on Hansbrough as he goes for the steal, leading to a missed layup by Terry and Duke's ball. Frasor gets a steal and his layup is blocked, but it's goaltending, good call. UNC's back within 5, the closest they have been in a while.

We're back, Duke ball. They haven't scored in 4 and a half minutes. McRoberts is fouled as he goes up for a layup by Hansbrough. He surprisingly misses both. Terry airballs a 3, but McRoberts is called for a foul underneath, his 4th. Vitale almost shot his load yelling at McRoberts on that one. Timeout, Duke lead is still 5.

UNC ball underneath the Duke hoop. Hansbrough banks in a jumper. Pressure time for Duke-their lead is only 3 now. Scheyer pulls up and makes the open jumper, clutch shot. Frasor is short on a 3, but they get an offensive board, Hansbrough is doubled, but kicks it out to Miller who makes the 3. Duke lead is only two, and McClure is hurt. Paulus misses the jumper, and they can tie or take here, but they don't do either because of an offensive foul. Paulus misses a runner, UNC fast break, but they slow it down. Hansbrough hits the mid range jumper, and we are tied at 52! Paulus pulls up and hits a jumper, he has 15 and Scheyer has 19. Hansbrough fouled by Scheyer, his 3rd, as he got the ball underneath. McRoberts comes back in with 4 fouls, and he plays great defense twice on Lawson, denying two layups and getting a board. Paulus is fouled by Lawson, his 2nd foul. Paulus' jumper rims out, and Wright ties the game with a layup. Nelson drives baseline and kicks it out to Scheyer who hits the 3. Entry pass, and Lance Thomas grabs the ball away from Wright and calls timeout, good defensive play, but Duke only has 2 timeouts left to UNC's 4. Duke by 3 and they have the ball.

Scheyer gets the feed from Nelson and misses a highly contested 3 pointer, but he is fouled. He'll get 3 shots when we come back from the break. 7:22 left.

That new Air Jordan XX2 commercial is intense as hell, back to the action, Scheyer shooting free throws. They try to jinx him with the consecutive FT's made graphic and they are successful. Fuck you graphics department. He misses 2 of 3 and Terry makes an easy layup. Nelson misses a jumper, and Wright's hook shot rattles in. McClure is hurt again. Tied at 58. Henderson hits a tough baseline jumper, first time I've said his name in a while. Lawson comes right back and hits a jumper of his own. Paulus misses a 3 badly, and Henderson gets called for another goaltending on a blocked shot. UNC is ahead for the first time with 5:15 to go. Henderson misses a jumper again, and its a kicked ball on UNC's end. Wright hits another jumper, UNC by 4 and the momentum shift is visible now. Nelson drives and is fouled, he'll get two shots, but is notoriously bad from the stripe. He splits them. Hansbrough is blocked, great work by Nelson, and Duke even gets to keep the ball. I'm guessing they go for the 3 and the tie. They don't, Henderson gets the ball and hits an off balance leaner. Nelson steals the ball and heads downcourt, he is fouled. Two shots when we come back. Will someone please put Dick Vitale out of his misery? UNC leads 64-63, 3:44 to go.

Nelson misses both, Duke is suffering this half. Hansbrough hits the jumper from the foul line. Scheyer misses again, but Terry walks on the fast break. Foul called on Scheyer on a bad pass by Nelson, good deflection by Miller. Miller splits. Duke trails by 4, their biggest defecit tonight. McRoberts misses again, and it's getting ugly on offense for Duke. They cannot get anything going on offense at the end of games anymore.

Lawson drives, is fouled, and gets the continuation on the made shot. Iffy call there, and he makes it a 7 point game. Duke needs points badly. Paulus misses a layup and he fouls Lawson on the other end. Like I said in the comments earlier, they outplay teams for 35 minutes and let it slip away. A surprising miss on the first shot. Scheyer works the baseline, hits a layup and the foul as he faked out Lawson. He makes the shot. Duke needs a stop or its just about over. Lawson nails the layup. Scheyer misses the layup, the ball is tipped around, and McRoberts makes it, timeout Duke, they trail by 4. They need a steal or some missed free throws to get back into this one. 37.3 left.

Hansbrough is fouled with 30.3 left. Even if he makes both, it's still a two possession game. The foul is on Scheyer, and that's 5. He's played an incredible game, but he'll watch the final 30 from the bench. Hansbrough makes both. Carolina calls timeout. Duke needs two threes and no points from UNC. I've seen crazier things happen.

Jesus Christ Dick, shut up. No one wants to watch that womens game.

Nelson makes a layup, that didn't help at all. Paulus fouls Ginyard downcourt.
The first one rolls around and goes in, the second one doesn't. Paulus is blocked by Hansbrough and it's just about over. He makes them both and its a 3 score game.

UNC leads by 7, as Duke has lost 3 straight games where they've outplayed their opponent, and the schedule doesn't get any easier. They should still get to 25 wins, but they are not a great team this year. UNC has a much easier schedule, including two revenge games against VT and NCST.

Ok so Duke gets a 3...which counts for 6 points according to ESPN. It is now 77-76 (73) good work, graphics department. 6.7 left. It will take more than a miracle and ESPN's graphics for Duke to win this game. Paulus commits the foul and he's gone.

Lawson makes both, Henderson misses the 3, and that's how the game ends; not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Duke has lost 3 in a row and will need so turn things around quick, the ACC tournament is only 3 weeks away.

BIG win for UNC, they control their own destiny in the ACC, and I don't see another game before senior day vs Duke that they should lose.

Thank you all for reading and staying with me and my rabid Duke bias (someone has to do it). If you are interested in my blog, give me an email at samtydings@aol.com, but if you're not, stick around as AA has something good working over here.

Peace-
Sam T

Well it's Patrick and Vitale, which means I'll be hitting mute again. Just so you know-Duke sympathists hate Dick Vitale, too. So when I miss something incredibly stupid, just post it in the comments. And a correction from my previous post, UNC is actually 3rd in conference. Somehow, BC is still #1. Already we have a shocker-Zoubeck in for McRoberts, not alongside of him, lets see if this pays off.

Duke wins the tip, and Henderson misses a layup, as does NC on the other end, but they'll keep the ball. Offensive foul on something that looked like, well, a stepback from here...I expect a video on YouTube about this in under 3 minutes.

Paulus drains a 3 for Duke, but Carolina comes right back with a short jumper, but Reyshawn Terry is hurt and is now sitting on the bench. Henderson nails a jumper off a high screen, which appears to be all Zoubeck is able to do for Duke this year. Lawson misses, and Duke works the ball around for Paulus who hits an open jumper. UNC scores, but Duke leads 7-4. Scheyer nails a 3! Someone must have loosened the rims at Duke's end, almost everything is going in. Somehow, a miss gets tipped in by Green for UNC, I'll check who. Henderson nails another 3...and rims one out on the next time down. What's the point of blogging a basketball game if you can't say "rims out." Timeout and McRoberts is in. Scheyer steals the inbounds pass and gets an easy layup. Now they call an offesnive foul away from the ball on UNC...how's that YouTube video going guys? Eventful as hell first 4 minutes, Duke leads 15-6. Raise your hand if you saw that coming.

And we're back. Please leave the note I left in the comments, first. Duke ball.
Now it's UNC ball, as McRoberts is called for a blatent moving screen. UNC hits two incredibly tough jumpers in a row. Duke needs to stop this quick run..and they do, as McRoberts hits Nelson for a layup. An airball by Ellington is followed up by a Scheyer miss and a possesion arrow call.
This is the perfect time to pump my new blog, If I Ran... located at ifiran.blogspot.com it is mostly composed of guest posts, so comment if you want an invite.
Lawson hits a layup, cutting the lead back to 5. McRoberts hits the tough hook shot on the other end, now he gets the rebound and takes the ball up court, and they don't score.
McRoberts hits Nelson for the dunk, and they triple team Hansborough, enducing a tieup that will go to UNC. I hate the possession arrow. Timeout, Duke leads by 9.

Henderson leading the fast break, leads to another tieup and our first scuffle tonight, between Zoubeck and Terry. The refs will have a little chat with Terry, as we go to another timeout.

Back to the blog, not to sound like a guest on MNF, but some guest posters this week will include Will Leitch of Deadspin, Big Daddy Drew and Monday Morning Punter of Kissing Suzy Kolber, and Awful Announcing doing a piece about Monday Night Football, along with me.

These "Rivalry Week" commercials suck ass. We get it, these teams don't like each other. Zoubeck travels. McClure fouls Ginyard, he'll get two free throws, as ESPN decides to plug the UNC/Duke womens hoops game. Count me out. Ginyard makes both.
Paulus hits McClure with a perfect pass, but the dunk gets blocked and Wright scores on the other end. Momentum's a bitch. Now Paulus steals the ball and gets a fast break, but misses the layup, and Henderson gets the putback, with the foul shot which he makes. Terry. 3 pointer. Cold-blooded. Scheyer misses a fadeaway, not a great shot there. Hansborough dunks and Coach K has to call a timeout, as UNC is within 3. Duke can't buy a layup after that hot start. And here comes the Gerald Henderson/Wayne Ellington fluff piece that we've been waiting for since last year's signing day, thank you ESPN.
Duke needs a score again here. McRoberts hits Paulus-who makes the jumper. UNC's next shot goes out of bounds, Duke ball. Nelson misses an open Scheyer underneath, but gets a blocking foul going around a screen. Paulus gets the shit blocked out of him...i think, as ESPN cuts away from the game. Scheyer and Thomas both miss, and UNC gets a fast break, and gets a foul call on Paulus.
Ok, this is hard to explain. So the ball is tipped around the rim, and Deion Thompson tried to dunk it, but only grabbed rim, so he got a tech. Scheyer makes both free throws. Interesting call there. Duke ball now. Nelson finds Scheyer as he goes out of bounds, but the 3 pointer rims out. Duke can't score on another fast break, and UNC has the ball again, but Green dribbles off of his foot. Timeout-Duke leads 28-21.

"Carolina has a better team, but we have Cameron"-Duke Student. Insert joke here, Marco.
Zoubeck gets a tieup along the baseline on Terry-looked like a foul. UNC gets the ball, but Ginyard misses the trey. Zoubeck is called for another walk. Hansborough hits a jumper, cutting the lead back down to 5. Scheyer drives, misses, but gets a foul call on Wright. He hits both. Terry burns Scheyer and makes a layup. Scheyer gets the ball from McRoberts and nails the 3 off the screen, and David "The Quiet Storm" McClure gets a block on the next possesion, UNC ball. If anyone knows any UNC nicknames, leave them in the comments. Lawson, from NBA range...brick. Paulus from 3...almost airballed it long. Duke is getting every shot wide open, and UNC is gettin a ton of layups. Henderson misses a shot going away from the basket, but no one boxes out Scheyer and he makes the easy layup. Wright gets the ball and dunks it with authorita as Cartman would say. Timeout-Duke leads 35-25.

Duke is outrebounding UNC...just wow. Terry defends the pass, and it goes ob off of Nelson. Lance Thomas blatently fouls Thompson in the post. Terry can't handle the inbounds pass, and Scheyer gets a steal. Paulus drives and misses, but gets a foul call. He makes both. Both teams are automatic from the line tonight. Wright misses once, but gets the ball back and hits the nice layup. Nelson tries to shoot the 3, but it slips out of his hands and ob to UNC, weird ass play. Quentin Thomas misses an open jumper for UNC, and its the 2 minute warning. Terry nails a 3, and UNC is back within 5. Scheyer misses the 3 from the corner, and Ellington gets blocked from behind by Scheyer. Paulus brings the ball up, drives, and is fouled. Two more shots. No I will not watch the Duke/UNC womens game.
Paulus makes both, and Duke is 9-9 from the stripe. Ginyard makes the runner. Duke will hold for 1. Scheyer misses ther runner, and we're going to halfime, Duke is only up by 5, despite completely outplaying UNC this half-they shoudl be scared as hell going into that locker room. Scheyer leads with 14 points.
For UNC-they know that they are better than this team, and to be only down by 5 after that kind of half is something that Roy Williams has to hit on during halftime. Wright is the leader for UNC with only 8, Hansborough only has 4.


I'll be back with the 2nd half-keep posting comments. And will people besides Marco and AA show up?

HELLO BLOG READERS! Sitting here from New Jersey with a dark blue "Go to Hell Carolina" shirt, it's the official Awful Announcing Duke/UNC blog. I'll be live blogging this one tonight, and while pouring my heart out for Duke and not listening to Dick Vitale, I'll also be plugging my new blog. Here's some important info:

DUKE is 5-4 in conference, lost two in a row, both by two points or less. They need a win here badly or could go into a tailspin unlike any other. Watch for Josh McRoberts tonight. He seems to be Duke's only option as a playmaker because Nelson has not been great recently. He will also have to defend Tyler Hansborough unless Zoubeck comes in. They'll get a ton of momentum from the Crazies tonight.

Meanwhile, UNC is the class of this conference and one of the best teams in the NCAA's right now. Ranked #5, they are also winning the ACC, and can truly solidify that first place ranking with a win tonight. They won this game last year, and are the better and deeper team, so expect a stong effort. Watch for freshman Ty Lawson. Duke is suceptible to the long range shot, and he will also have to force turnovers from Paulus.

Prediction:
It will be close, but unless Duke and UNC switch uni's pregame, I've got to pick UNC
Duke-69
Carolina-76

Tied at 61 and we get it, the chick has a Duke needs more time sign. Enough with it. Mike Patrick claims to be a psychic on the Singletary jumper.
UVA wins the tip, and Singletary is fouled while shooting. He hits both. Nelson misses an open 3, but McClure hustles for the board, and dishes to Paulus, who is fouled, giving Cain 5 and Paulus 2 FT's. There is now a "Paulus Sucks" chant. He cooly hits both as well. Reynolds limps off of the court. Singletary misses, but a big rebound and putback for Diane. Foul on Pettinella, who replaced Cain. McRoberts hits both and we're tied again. Foul called on Thomas, giving him 5. An iffy call as he batted the ball out of Pettinella's hands. He is a 26% shooter from the line, misses the first one badly, and somehow makes #2. Paulus misses a long 3 and UVA calls timeout with a 1 point lead and 2:33 left.

Reynolds is checking back into the game. Henderson steals the ball from Diane. A reach in foul called on Joeseph. Henderson splits them. Singletary airballs the three pointer, and Duke can take the lead, but they don't, McRoberts misses. 1 minute left, Reynolds drives and A GREAT BLOCK by McClure, saving the lead. Duke calls timeout with 30.2 left and 8 on the shot clock. Their gameplan appears to be give it to McRoberts and hope he scores. Reynolds is on the bench. Scheyer misses the shot, and UVA can hold for the win. They call timeout with 16 seconds left. Lets see if Singletary or Reynolds gets the last shot. Singletary drives and HITS THE SHOT with 1.0 left. Wow, what a great shot. Duke will need another miracle here.
McRoberts to inbound. The pass goes to Paulus, open 3 for the win...NO GOOD, hits back iron.

Wow just a great game, as UVA storms the court. ESPN is now down on its knees for the Cavs but what amazes me is that people still storm the court for Duke this year. No matter what, a great game, showing how good UVA is, and how much better Duke needs to be by next wednesday, as they take on UNC (and I'm liveblogging!) Thanks for reading, all 4 of you.

Sam

Virginia's gettin the ball to start, and within 10 seconds, Lance Thomas has picked up foul #3, and Mamadi Diane hits his 3rd trey of the night. The Lithuanian guy with the long name picked up foul #3 for UVA. Thomas hits layup number 3, and Diane hits a running jumper to cut it back to 5. Paulus gets away with an intentional foul on a fast break, but Reynolds hits a short jumper. UVA has all of the momentum now, but Diane throws it away, and Duke goes right down for a Thomas layup +1. He makes it, but UVA scores and the crowd is back into it. UVA will get the ball under Duke's hoop when we return. Duke leads 41-37.

We're back. Patrick is still bitching about the no call on the intentional foul. Reynolds airballs a floater in the lane. Virginia runs a great inbounds play, but Harris misses the layup that would have cut it to 4. Reynolds hits a wide open jumper, Duke takes a TO and leads by 4.

Nothing happens for a while, until Reynolds drains a 3, they're within 1. Duke has the ball down by UVA's basket and leads 43-42.

UVA gets the ball back and can take the lead on this possesion. They get two shots, but can't put it in. After that sentence, I am obliged to remind you that "That's What She Said Day" is on February 15th. McRoberts hits a layup, and Singletary misses the tying 3. McRoberts gets the ball in the post and hits a hook shot in the lane, causing UVA to call a much needed TO. McRoberts blocks a layup, but UVA gets the rebound and scores, back within 3. Patrick reminds us that he gets to watch people like Singeltary for free. Asshole. Shot clock running down, so Paulus fires up an airball, but Scheyer tips it in, Duke by 5. Singletary gets an assist, then McRoberts commits a foul on the offensive end. TV Timeout, Duke by 3.

Virginia can tie it here, and Reynolds is fouled shooting a 3 pointer by Scheyer with the shot clock running down. Hits the first...hits the second...and hits the third. Tied at 49. McRoberts comes right back with a layup, giving him 13 points. Singletary misses the shot, but there's a loose ball foul on Duke. Diane misses badly and Thomas snags the rebound. McRoberts is double teamed and finds Scheyer for 3...good! UVA misses again and Duke's going to slow it down now. Cain called for his 2nd foul on a block, and now Duke will be in the 1 and 1 with the next foul. And somehow a handoff around a screen turns into an offensive foul on Thomas, giving him 4. Reynolds hits a runner in the lane, exciting the crowd again. Nelson silences them with a 3, but a UVA player is down and can't get up. It was Reynolds, who went down after his made shot. Reynolds has 17 and is going to get looked at. Meanwhile, Duke leads by 6. McClure blocks a short runner, and he has been a pretty good 5th/6th man all year for Duke. They slow it down again. McRoberts drives and gets fouled, and he made a great shot! Duke leads by 8 with 3:42 left.

McRoberts misses the free throw, and Reynolds is back in as he hits another shot. Diane gets a steal, and Nelson commits a foul. Reynolds hits both FT's, they're back within 4. Duke needs to score to silence the crowd, and they might. McRoberts draws a foul from Cain, his 4th, and he'll get 2 FT's, and he hits them both. Reynolds bricks a long 3, and there's a tieup. Possesion arrow goes to Duke. I would rant about how I hate the possesion arrow in college hoops, but I'm too bored. Meanwhile, the ball is tipped off of Paulus, and UVA gets the ball. Only Paulus' second turnover. UVA calls timeout. Someone holds up a witty sign, causing ESPN to run the same graphic about the Clemson game that will be a fixture in Duke games to come. Foul on Scheyer with 2:05 left. Reynolds hits both again. UVA needs a stop badly, and Singletary knocks the ball out of bounds, Duke will keep it. Scheyer long 3 no good. Virginia can make this a very exciting finish if they can score here. Reynolds drives and a block is called, giving Reynolds two more shots at the line. He hits both and he is now 10-11 from the stripe. Timeout UVA.

ESPN shows a montage of Duke losing this year-classy. Duke kills 20 seconds, then calls timeout with 55.2 left in the game. This gives time for Len Elmore to pick the Colts on sunday. Now there is a discussion of the fans, and nobody cares. Reynolds has scored 13 in a row for UVA. Paulus misses a floater. UVA can tie or take here...and Singletary drains it! Tied at 61. Duke to hold for 1. McRoberts misses, and the clock runs out. We're going to OT!

OK, here are some stats from this game:
Duke:
Scheyer has 2 points, so I really did well on that pick
Nelson leads the team in points (9) and rebounds (3)
Lance Thomas scored thier first 4 points but hasn't shot the ball since
Shooting 55.5% from the field

UVA:
Singletary has 9 points, Reynolds has 5. Combined they are 1-5 from 3 point range.
Shooting 39.3% from the field

be back in a minute with the exciting conclusion to this game

Ok, I'm going to try and get a post in at every TV timeout (4 minutes).

We're playing at the John Paul Jones Arena-so expect a lot of Led Zeppelin references tonight. Awful Announcers: Mike Patrick and Len Elmore

The teams trade layups before UVA player to watch JR Reynolds bricking a 3, and Lance Thomas nailing his 2nd layup for Duke, and then Duke player to watch Scheyer gets a foul call on him. I was really on fire with those picks...yeah I was as Scheyer and Reynolds both score on the ensuing possesions, Duke by 3-make that 6. Paulus has hit 2 deep 3's, figuring that if you're shooting, you can't turn the ball over.
Virginia nails a 3, then Paulus feeds Nelson for another deep 3. With all of these long range shots, it's like a game of NBA Live...without my friends throwing the controllers at the TV and demanding a rematch. TV Timeout-Duke-15, UVA-9.

Paulus throws up a crazy shot as the shot clock runs down and hits it. That's a shot you don't even try in HORSE. UVA misses a dunk, and David McClure hits an 8 footer (yes he got it off). Virginia gets a fast break and fearful of missing the dunk, he gets swatted by Gerald Henderson. Cain follows with a dunk, and McRoberts hits a short floater with the foul, FT good. Duke treis an alley-oop to McRoberts, which fails but they get the foul call. Another TV Timeout-Duke leads 24-16. Isn't this exciting?



Duke turns the ball over, but UVA can't convert. Nelson airball's a 3 pointer-can you guess what the fan's chanted? Reynolds misses another floater, and surprisingly, no one's said anything incredibly stupid yet. McRoberts tries to beat the double team and fails miserably, which leads to Singletary nailing another 3, UVA's back within 1 (see, i told you). Nelson hits a mid range shot and Duke leads 17-14, TV Timeout.

I have the game on mute and I'm listening to my Led Zeppelin songs on iTunes, so tell me if I miss any gems in the comment's section. Singletary scores again (maybe I should have picked him) and UVA is within 6 and has the ball back...before they throw the ball away and Nelson dunks it. Fast break, but then a double dribble is called, something I have not seen since 1996. Duke gets a few more hoops, now lead by 11, and UVA calls a timeout. Duke-30, UVA-19.
Nelson dribbles baseline and somehow keeps his feet inbounds for a reverse layup. Coupled with a long pass out of bounds, Duke leads by 11, 32-19 going into the last TV timeout of the half.

Even Duke's mistakes are working out, McRoberts tries the most predictable move a big man can try, and misses, but McClure comes in to get the tip in. Cain dunks for UVA, followed by another long 3, and they're back within 8; 34-26. McRoberts gets the ball in the post coming off of the timeout, and pivots 3 times but avoids traveling or a 3 second call and puts in the 3 footer. Henderson draws a charge, but Duke can't get a good shot off and gives up the ball. 7'1 Brian Zoubeck comes in and quickly draws a foul, UVA is going back to the line, they split the shots and Duke has the ball with 30 seconds left, holding for 1 shot. It's an 8-2 UVA run, and UVA commits a dumb foul, but had 1 to give. Duke does indeed hold the ball for one shot, and don't even get it off.
It's halftime, Duke leads 36-29. Be back with some stats soon.

Welcome blog readers, Duke Haters, Duke Sympathists, and maybe some Virginia fans! I'm back to give you the game of the night (on ESPN) between Duke and UVA. I'll give you some pregame breakdowns, so you can be fully prepared for this mid-season conference matchup.
DUKE:
Record: 18-3 (5-2, 4th place ACC)
Ranked: 8 in AP, 10 in ESPN/USA Today
Leading Scorer: DeMarcus Nelson-14.5 ppg

Player to Watch Tonight: Freshman G John Scheyer, who leads the team in ACC PPG (a very meaningful stat), and is the team's latest white 3 point shooter. He may have the arduous task of guarding Sean Singletary, and more importantly, may have to take over at point guard after Greg Paulus starts turning the ball over.

VIRGINIA:
Record: 13-6 (5-2 4th place ACC)
Ranked: NR in both polls
Leading Scorer: Sean Singletary-19.0 ppg

Player to Watch Tonight: Senior G J.R. Reynolds, who is 2nd on the team in ppg at 18.2, and will get plenty of looks, considering all of the pressure that Duke will direct towards Singletary. This game could affect his draft position...oh who am I kidding? It's his last chance to beat Duke on his home floor.

Prediction:
UVA will definetly put up a fight in this game, and expect it to be a good first half. After that, start looking for the UCLA/Oregon game.
Duke-83
UVA-64

More coming at tipoff