from theacc.com in Geensboro at the Grandover Resort:
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Duke faced another deep deficit and was staring at yet another road loss, but these Blue Devils had an even bigger problem: They weren’t following the instructions of their Hall of Fame coach.
So during some late breaks, Mike Krzyzewski turned control of the huddle over to the players, and that strategy led to his latest milestone victory.
DeMarcus Nelson capped a remarkable late rally by making two free throws with 1:01 remaining to lift No. 7 Duke past North Carolina State 87-86 on Saturday and give Coach K his 800th career win.
“He kind of let us decide what we were going to do with the game,” guard Jon Scheyer said, “because for a lot of it, we weren’t doing the things that (the coaches) told us to do.”
Nelson and Scheyer both scored 19 points for the Blue Devils (25-3, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who used a game-closing 14-5 run to take their only lead of the half, win their third straight and snap a two-game losing streak away from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
*****Bruce Mitchell said it would be like this.*****
BOSTON (AP) – Tyler Hansbrough scored 25 points and No. 3 North Carolina overcame 46 points from Tyrese Rice and an 18-point second-half deficit to beat Boston College 90-80 on Saturday.
Wayne Ellington had 18 of his 20 points in the second half for the Tar Heels (27-2, 12-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who won their sixth straight.
Rice surpassed his career highs of 32 points and six 3-pointers by halftime, making 8-of-9 from beyond the arc in the opening 20 minutes. He started the second half with a steal and fast-break layup to give him 36 points, and then he hit the next basket to make it 58-40.
But after Corey Raji hit a 3-pointer to give BC a 61-44 lead, the Tar Heels scored 18 straight points – getting three 3-pointers from Danny Green. Ellington had a steal and fast-break layup, then followed that up with a pass to Marcus Ginyard underneath for the dunk that made it 62-61 with 11:13 to play.
North Carolina remained tied atop the conference standings with No. 7 Duke, the last opponent to beat the Tar Heels. The teams play in Durham next Saturday.
ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia Tech lost a 13-point lead in regulation but Gani Lawal scored six points in overtime as the Yellow Jackets recovered to beat Wake Forest 87-79 on Saturday.
Lawal had only two points in regulation but scored the Yellow Jackets’ first two baskets in overtime.
Georgia Tech, led by Anthony Morrow’s 22 points, never trailed.
After a 2-2 tie, Georgia Tech led until only 43.6 seconds left when a short jumper by Wake Forest’s Jeff Teague tied the game at 72-72.
Georgia Tech’s D’Andre Bell missed a jumper but the Yellow Jackets were awarded possession when the ball went out of bounds with 8.8 seconds left. Maurice Miller turned the ball over on an attempted pass inside to Jeremis Smith, leading to the overtime.