Carolina Blues: The Tar Heels Fall to Duke

This year has been a strange year in college basketball. The Iowa Hawkeyes, a mediocre team, beat UConn and Ohio State, two teams they should not have beaten. A guy from Notre Dame is leading the nation in scoring. The strangest thing, however, would have to be the below-average play of this year's Carolina basketball team. The Heels are out of the top 25 for the first time in ten years, they have lost nine games already this season, and a freshman, Joseph Forte, is leading the team in scoring.

You can look at UNC’s loss last Thursday to Duke in a bittersweet perspective. Although Carolina lost the game on their home floor, 90-86 in overtime, the second half was some of the best basketball that they had played all season. They played horribly in the first half—they were down by seventeen points, and Ed Cota has committed seven turnovers. However, sparked by the hook shots of Kris Lang, and the three-pointers of Joe Forte, Jason Capel, and Ed Cota, Carolina crept into the ball game. Duke's freshman point guard Jason Williams' turnovers helped Carolina as well, but Chris Carrawell's 23 points, coupled with Shane Battier's 25, kept Duke in the lead.

Forte's 20 points and Cota's 21 were not enough to stop the inside play of Duke's Carlos Boozer in overtime. With Brenden Haywood fouled out, Boozer put Carolina away with a series of layups and dunks.

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