Duke got its revenge on North Carolina in the ACC Tournament final with a convincing 73-58 victory that should propel the Blue Devils to a No. 1 seed on this Selection Sunday.
2011 NCAA Tournament Field: Duke Beats North Carolina For ACC Title, Automatic Berth
Duke got 20 points and 10 assists from Nolan Smith in the win, and the Blue Devils’ National Player of the Year candidate led all scorers despite making just six of 18 shots. Kyle Singler and Seth Curry each added 11 points for Duke.
North Carolina has less success. Harrison Barnes followed a 40-point outburst in the semifinals with a quiet 16 points, and John Henson’s 18 rebounds were not enough to keep the Tar Heels in this game.
After that result, it will be very hard to deny Duke a No. 1 seed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The Selection Committee has a slightly harder job before it with North Carolina: the Tar Heels’ white-hot finish was tempered by a miserable loss at the very end, and could make a team that was talked about as a No. 2 seed entering today into a No. 4 seed by the time the bracket is released tonight.
For more on the Tar Heels, visit SB Nation’s Carolina March; for more NCAA Tournament predictions, check out SB Nation’s latest bracketology.
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