I woke up today feeling pretty good about tonight’s basketball game, Carolina at Duke. Last year the Blue Devils swept the Heels, capped off with a 32 point beatdown at home. I wasn’t expecting that, but I was finally starting to feel good about Duke having a pretty good win. I talked to Seth Holloman about it and thought Duke would win by 11-15 points.
The game, which occupied my mind throughout the entire day despite my busy workload, tipped off at 9:00. I was irritated when the Heels started off with an 8-0 run. I was really irritated when they pushed the lead to double digits and was demoralized when they got up 16 shortly before the half. Luckily, the Blue Devils were able to bring it back to within 14 points at the half.
By then I was feeling pretty crummy. I knew there was a chance Duke could come back and win it, but the way they were playing, it didn’t seem likely. “Great,” I thought. Duke is going to lose this game at home, snap the nation’s longest home win streak, lose the top spot in the ACC rankings in embarrassing fashion, all to a Carolina team that downright sucked a couple weeks ago.
Well, in the second half, Duke changed the defense a little and Seth Curry finished the game with 22 points while Nolan Smith racked up 34 (career nights for both). Carolina had beat Duke by 14 in the first half, but Duke beat Carolina by 20 in the second and won the game 79-73. It was a classic.
Amanda and I helped by making halftime adjustments. I turned my hat from backwards to the front while Amanda removed a hair band she’d had on. I also didn’t move from my spot on the couch, despite having to pee really bad.
After the game I was thinking I was glad for the win, but figure the game at the Dean Dome will go to Carolina. Then I remembered that Coach K had figured out a better game and beat the Heels by 20 in the second half, so hey, maybe Duke will win by even more in the final game of the season. I’m not saying you should bank on it, but it’s something to think about.
Oh yeah, the rest of my day? Like I said, lots of work to do. Amanda fixed spaghetti for dinner and Milly said “sgetti” a bunch, though I think tonight was the first time she did it well.
Zach Dotsey