National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
North Carolina 88, Duke 70
When: 7:00 PM ET, Saturday, March 3, 2012
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, North Carolina
Officials: # Roger Ayers, # Mike Eades, # Karl Hess
Attendance: 9314

North Carolina 88, Duke 70: Kendall Marshall led all five starters in double figures with 20 points and added 10 assists as the No. 6 Tar Heels clinched the ACC regular season title and got some revenge over the No. 3 Blue Devils.

Tyler Zeller chipped in 19 points and 10 rebounds and Harrison Barnes scored 16 points for visiting North Carolina (27-4, 14-2 ACC), which will be the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament next week.

Duke (26-5, 13-3), which stole an 85-84 win in Chapel Hill on a last-second 3-pointer by Austin Rivers last month, was on its heels from the start Saturday.

The Blue Devils made their first two field goal attempts of the game but would not make another until the 11:19 mark of the first half.

North Carolina took a 48-24 lead at the break and led by as much as 26 points early in the second half.

Duke made a run through the middle part of the second half, cutting the deficit to 11 points, but could never get it to single digits.

The Blue Devils’ last chance at a run came when Tyler Thornton stole the ball with 2:09 left. Thornton missed the uncontested layup and the Tar Heels countered with a 3-pointer by Barnes to put the game away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Tar Heels dominated the inside, building up a 42-22 advantage on the glass. … Duke struggled from the free throw line, shooting 12 for 21. … Mason Plumlee scored 17 points and brother Miles Plumlee collected 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils.
Top Game Performances
 
North Carolina   Duke
Kendall Marshall 20 Scoring Mason Plumlee 17
Kendall Marshall 10 Assists Seth Curry 3
John Henson 10 Rebounds Miles Plumlee 11
Kendall Marshall 5 Free Throws Made Austin Rivers 4
Reggie Bullock 1 Steals Quinn Cook 2
John Henson 1 Blocks Mason Plumlee 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
North Carolina 88 54.5 4-13 12-15 13 42 1 2 12
Duke 70 41.3 6-21 12-21 12 22 2 7 6