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Sports
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7,2010
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NCAA BASKETBALL
Calendar
TODAY
Basketball
W. Davidson
@ Ledford
6 p.m.
Swimming
E. Davidson
@ CCC Meet
3:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Basketball
HP Andrews
©Thomasville
6 p.m.
Basketbau.
Randleman
@ E. Davidson
6 p.m.
Basketball
Ledford
@ C. Davidson
6 p.m.
THURSDAY
Basketball
Mt. Zion Prep
@DCCC
7 p.m.
Swimming
E. Davidson
@ CCC Meet
3:30 p.m.
Wrestling
Ledford
©Thomasville
7:30 p.m.
Wrestling
E. Davidson
@ SW Randolph
7:45 p.m.
FRIDAY
Basketball
Trinity
@ E. Davidson
6 p.m.
Basketball
N. Davidson
@ Ledford
6 p.m.
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Zeller helps lead Tar Heels by Kentucky
BY BRIANA GORMAN
Durham Herald Sun
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina’s Tyler
Zeller entered Saturday’s postgame inter
views with two cuts on his face, though the
7-footer hardly seemed to notice.
The wounds were the result of a career-
day for Zeller who finished with 27 points,
11 rehoimds and five blocks to help the Tar
Heels hang on for a victory over the No. 10
Wildcats 75-73 at the Smith Center.
The Heels did not make a field goal in the
final 6:46 but made 14 of 17 free throws — in
cluding 10 straight by Zeller — to puU out
the win. UNC had entered the game shooting
61 percent from the free-throw line.
“Tonight was my night to be able to step
up,” Zeller said. “Every big game, you’ve
got to have somebody that steps up. I’m not
saying it’s going to be me every time, but to
night was my night.”
After losing three of seven games in No
vember, including a loss at No. 20 lUinois
on Tuesday, UNC’s Larry Drew II said he
looked at the Kentucky game as a must-win
situation. And in the second half the guard
played like he did not want to lose.
Drew finished with seven points and four
assists, but his defense helped hold Ken
tucky (5-2) to 30 percent shooting in the sec
ond half. He was on the floor directing the
Tar Heels in the final tense minutes — UNC
turned the baU over just three times in the
second half — and hit two free throws with
20.9 to play to push UNC’s lead to 72-69.
“It was an ugly win, but I’ll take it,” UNC
coach Roy WUllams said. “I loved our tough
ness going to the free throw line and making
the free throws.”
Sophomore John Henson also added a
double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds) for
UNC (5-3) but was not on the court in the fi
nal minutes because of his 35 percent free
throw shooting.
The Tar Heels trailed by as many as six in
See HELPS, Page 8
TIMES PHOTO/DAVID YEMM
John Henson had one of his best performanc
es in a UNC jersey against the Wildcats.
TIMES PHOTO/DAVID YEMM
Still Perfect
Chad Taylor and the Storm improved to 12-0 beating Oxford 91 -58 on Saturday. Justin Glover
had 26 points, Maurice Nash 18, James Robbins 14 and Kimani Hunt had 10.
Duke, Carolina
headline intriguing
early hoops season
BY DANIEL KENNEDY
Times Correspondent
March is stiU more than three
months away, but the madness has al
ready begun for college hoops fans.
NCAA basketball typically produces two
months of competition one could sleep
through without missing much meaning
ful action before Christmas, as the nation’s
top 25 teams often navigate easy schedules
compiled of creampuff opponents to pad
their win-loss record. The 2010-2011 cam
paign, however, tipped off in mid-Novem
ber with an uncustomary slate of games. In
less than 30 days, 11 games between ranked
opponents have already been played.
That number does not even include
Saturday’s premier showdowns that pitted
North Carolina against fellow blueblood
Kentucky and a rematch of the national
championship game between Duke and
Butler. The Tar Heels and Bulldogs were
both unranked at the time of the contests.
The top-ranked Blue Devils account for
two of the 11 ranked match-ups, as they
have beaten preseason Final Four favor
ites Michigan State and Kansas State in
the opening month. Through eight games,
Duke has proven itself an early title
frontrunner thanks to the play of dy
namic freshman Kyrie Irving, who netted
31 points in the win over the Spartans.
On a team led by seniors Kyle Singler
and Nolan Smith, the rookie has as
sumed the role of starting point guard
as a platform to showcase his NBA
talents. The Blue Devils also feature
brothers Mason and Miles Plumlee as
stalwarts in the post to replace the re
bounds lost when former fixtures Lance
Thomas and Brian Zoubek graduated.
One of the more low-profile additions
Duke welcomed to the fold this year was
See SEASON, Page 8
Big seconii half propels Blue Devils to win over Butler
BY STEVE WISEMAN
Durham Herald Sun
EAST RUTHERFORD,
N.J. — Here stood top-
ranked Duke on Satur
day, squaring off again
with scrappy Butler and
unable to puU away.
Early December is far
from early April, yet the
teams that battled for the
2010 NCAA men’s basket
ball championship ap
peared headed for a clas
sic finish again.
With about 12 min
utes to go, emotionally
drained Duke found a lit
tle extra energy to make
this win over Butler more
comfortable.
A 12-pomt Blue Devils
run opened up a lead, and
Kyrie Irving’s consecu
tive 3-pointers later put
away an 82-70 Duke win
at the Izod Center.
“In the last 12 minutes,
I thought we were very
energetic,” said Duke
coach Mike Krzyzewski,
who earned career win
No. 876 to catch Adolph
Rupp for No. 3 on the
all-time wins list. “Our
defense picked up and it
was a little bit more at
the tempo we needed to
play.”
Up to that point, the
Devils seemed lethar
gic. Wednesday night’s
physically challenging
84-79 home win over No. 6
Michigan State appeared
to drain them. The toll
of playing, and winning,
games in Kansas City
and Portland, Ore., over
the last two weeks was
impacting them.
So the game plodded
along the way Butler
likes to play With Kyle
Singler in foul trouble
and Duke’s shots not fall
ing, the score was tied
33-aIl at halftime and the
Bulldogs led 44-42 when
Chase StigaU scored on
a baseline drive and re
verse layup with 14:59 to
See DEVILS, Page 8