UNC downs Duke

DURHAM, N.C. – Danny Green and North Carolina made themselves comfortable when it counted on Duke’s famously hostile home court. Because they did, the top-ranked Tar Heels claimed another league title – and maybe the inside track to a close-to-home postseason path.

Green had 18 points to make up for a shaky outing last time against the Blue Devils, and North Carolina scored the final 10 points of its 76-68 victory over No. 6 Duke on Saturday night to claim the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season men’s basketball championship.

Tyler Hansbrough finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds while surpassing the 2,000-point mark for his career in his third straight victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Wayne Ellington also scored 16 for the Tar Heels (29-2, 14-2).

North Carolina blew an early double-figure lead and briefly trailed before closing strong, holding the Blue Devils scoreless for the final 5 1/2 minutes to claim its eighth straight victory and the top seed in the ACC tournament in Charlotte – and quite possibly took a big step toward the No. 1 seed in the Charlotte-based East Regional.

“Our perimeter guys took it personally tonight,” said Green, who was 1 for 10 in the last Duke game. “We wanted to come out and knock down shots, play smarter, play better and take the crowd out of the game. We kept our poise when they came back.”

Greg Paulus scored 12 of his 15 points in the first half for the Blue Devils (26-4, 13-3), who rallied from a 14-point first-half hole but missed their final 11 shots.

Duke had 15 shots blocked – seven by Green and five by Deon Thompson – and was held to a season-worst 32.9 shooting in losing at home for the first time since last February’s Maryland game.

Ty Lawson, who missed the previous meeting with a sprained left ankle, finished with 10 points for the Tar Heels, who claimed their first victory in a winner-take-all regular-season finale with Duke since 1985.