1984 Duke at North Carolina Men's Basketball

Carmichael Auditorium

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Mar 3, 1984

Duke Blue Devils at North Carolina Tarheels

North Carolina came into this game with a record of 25-1 (13-0 ACC). Their only loss was to the Arkansas Razorbacks on Feb 12. They were way ahead of Maryland, the second ranked team in the ACC, which had a conference record of 8-5.

Duke came into this game with a record of 22-7 (7-6 ACC). The conference losses were spread around with one loss to all the other ACC teams with the exception of Virginia. They were in sole possession of 3rd place but just half a game ahead of Wake Forest which had a conference record of 7-7. The Blue Devils, under head coach Mike Kryziewski, were just 1-6 against the Tarheels coming into this game. Duke, oddly enough had a better record on the road in conference games (5-1) than they did at home but the Blue Devils had not won a game at North Carolina since 1966.

This video was good enough to watch on a regular sized monitor but it probably isn't clear enough to watch blown up on a large TV screen. One thing that unfortunately was not clear enough was the clock in the lower right corner of the screen. They actually used two different clocks in the lower right corner of the screen. The first one didn't look very slick but it was easy enough to read. The second one was too fuzzy to read.

The video is divided into two parts. The first is about 90 minutes and the second about 60 minutes. It includes all the commercials and the half-time feature which included interview with some of the coaches of ACC women's basketball teams.

My biggest complaint about the camera work is that they sometimes would switch to the camera that was underneath the basket for too long. It's a great angle when there is a big play under the basket or in the paint but it isn't so great if the ball is moving all over the place.

Both teams came out strong in the opening minutes of the first half. The lead went back and forth several times but Duke was ahead 15-13 at the first TV timeout. Not much changed leading up to the 2nd TV timeout (at which point Duke was ahead 23-22) or the 3rd (at which point the score was tied 30-30). North Carolina had a 3 point lead at the 4th and final TV timeout of the half with the score 34-37. North Carolina held on to the lead at halftime although Duke did cut it down to just a one point lead for the Tarheels, 40-41.

There were 17 leads changes and 9 ties in the first half. Michael Jordan did not have a great half. He shot just 3 of 12 from the field and no free throws. Both teams attempted and made about the same number of shots from the field, 17/35 for Duke and 16/34 for North Carolina. The Blue Devils made all 6 of their shots from the free throw line. The Tarheels made a worse percentage of their free throws but they attempted (13) and made (9) more free throws than the Blue Devils did. The Tarheels also did a much better job getting rebounds than the Blue Devils did. They grabbed 22 to just 14 for the Blue Devils.

Not much changed early in the second half. Both teams continued score. Duke tied the game at 51-51 but just before the first TV timeout Michael Jordan scored and then hit a free throw to put the Tarheels ahead 51-54. The scoring slowed down at that point for both teams. The Tarheels still had the lead when the second TV timeout was called but the score was just 55-56. The Blue Devils were still behind but they had outscored the Tarheels 4-2 in the four minutes of game time between the first two TV timeouts of the second half. Michael Jordan was sitting on the bench at that point after picking up his 2nd, 3rd and 4th fouls of the game early in the second half.

The play got a little more aggressive on the boards after the 2nd TV timeout of the half but the scoring didn't pick up by much. The Tarheels were still ahead 61-62 at the third TV timeout. Michael Jordan got off the bench and back into the game after the third TV timeout. The scoring picked up a little bit but the Tarheels were still up by a point at the final TV timeout of the second half with the score 68-69.

The few minutes of regulation were very exciting. There were lots of timeouts called. North Carolina had a one point lead 70-71 but with less than a 30 seconds Duke scored a basket and the shooter got fouled. Mark Alarie hit the free throw to put Duke up 73-71. The Tarheels came down to try and hit a basket to tie the game but Brad Daugherty committed his 5th foul while trying to get position under the basket, with 14 seconds to go in the game. The Blue Devils missed the first end of the 1-and-1. The Tarheels got the rebound and called timeout. The Tarheels brought the ball down quickly and Matt Doherty scored just before time ran out to tie the game 73-73.

The overtime period opened slow. Duke scored first on a basket by Tommy Amaker. North Carolina scored next on a jump shot by Michael Jordan. Duke held on to the ball for a while after that. They kept passing it around. There was no shot clock. A little more than 3 minutes into the overtime period the score was tied again at 75-75. Things picked up a little bit after that, but just a little bit. The Tarheels scored a basket to take the lead but the Blue Devils tied it up again with a couple free throws. The Tarheels scored again but the Blue Devils scored again too with 4 seconds to go in the game. The Tarheels got another shot at winning the game but were unable to score. The overtime period ended with the score 79-79.

The Tarheels took the lead early in the second overtime period and held on to it. They played better and shot better than the Blue Devils. Two minutes into the second overtime period they were up by 5, 83-88. The Tarheels continued to score from the field and from the line but the Blue Devils did not score any more points in this game. The final score was 83-96. 

This was an amazingly fun game to watch. The Tarheels may have had the home court advantage but it was hard to tell considering how hard the Blue Devils played. The Tarheels outlasted them but the Blue Devils put up one hell of a fight and in the end it looked like they just ran out of steam. 

This was the final game of the regular season for both teams. It was the last home game for senior starters Matt Doherty and Sam Perkins. It would also turn out to be junior Michael Jordan's last home game as a Tarheel.

North Carolina finished the regular season without losing a single conference game and just one game overall. They were ranked number one in the country for almost the entire season. They met the Blue Devils again in the ACC Tournament semi-finals exactly one week later.