The game was over, but the battle was not. With starters still on the floor despite the outcome in hand, the intense Duke-North Carolina rivalry added another chapter to a never-ending, spellbinding book.
With 18 seconds remaining Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C., sophomore forward Tyler Hansbrough was at the free throw line trying to increase the Tar Heels' 84-72 lead. He missed the free throw and two physical plays ensued—one was a great effort and one was a blatant dirty foul. As Hansbrough hustled to get to his own miss, Duke freshman guard Gerald Henderson came flying into the play with a clear intent to foul the UNC forward. Hansbrough went up after getting the rebound and Henderson flung his body at him and struck Hansbrough's nose with his elbow, breaking it in the process.
As blood poured out of the forward's nose, Henderson was immediately restrained. It looked like a dirty play. And it was.
Looking at the replay, I must say that the elbow to the nose might not have been intentional, but it was obvious that the hard foul and swinging of the forearm was. Henderson went flying into a play that he was hardly involved in and he went in swinging—a play very unrepresentative of the Duke program and one that I would have expected head coach Mike Krzyzewski to condemn. Surprisingly, he didn't.
I have always considered Coach K to be one of my favorite coaches despite being a Carolina fan growing up. How can you not? He teaches the game better than anyone, he graduates players and he turns them into good people—people who never play dirty.
North Carolina is the school whose former head coach Matt Doherty went after a Duke player a few years back. UNC has the former players who are nicknamed ""Crackhouse"" and ""Vin-sanity."" Duke is known for quiet guys like Elton Brand and Chris Duhon.
Sunday, however, the Duke program suffered a black eye. Unfortunately for North Carolina, the broken nose hurts more. UNC said Monday that Hansbrough will play in the ACC Tournament but will most likely don a mask.
Henderson will sit out Thursday against North Carolina State with a one-game suspension, and while Duke could lose that game, Henderson is still getting off easy. That elbow could have caused just as much damage as a punch, if not more. And North Carolina needs Hansbrough more than Duke needs Henderson.
The thing that bothers me most is that Coach K very uncharacteristically fired a cheap shot at UNC head coach Roy Williams after the game. He hinted that North Carolina's starters should not have been in the game that late. Yes, he has a point—except for the fact that it was Krzyzewski who wouldn't concede the game. He was the one who called a timeout with 48 seconds remaining even though the Blue Devils were down 13. I never criticize anyone for fighting to the end, but if you are going to fight you can't expect your opponent to take its best players out of the game. UNC's starters were in there because Krzyzewski forced them to remain in the game, and then he criticizes Williams for it?
I know the Duke program is down this year, but there is a difference between a great program suffering losses and a great program losing its identity. The turnovers, soft defense and random lack of hustle at Duke this season is surprising but something that Krzyzewski can fix. The dirty play crosses the line, though. Coach K should have issued an apology for Henderson's actions and added to the freshman's one-game suspension.
Instead, he has sent the message to his players that he will back you up if you commit a dirty foul.
Sounds stupid, but that's exactly what happened Sunday.
Was Henderson's foul dirty or not? Let Hoge know at hoge@dailycardinal.com.
