UNC fans celebrate victory, ACC title
Posted March 5, 2011 5:42 p.m. EST
Updated March 6, 2011 12:26 a.m. EST
Chapel Hill, N.C. — With the regular-season ACC men's basketball title on the line, Chapel Hill turned two shades of blue on Saturday as fans of the host University of North Carolina and the Duke Blue Devils converged on the Dean E. Smith Center.
Only those wearing the lighter colors were celebrating a couple hours later after UNC claimed the home-court victory, 81-67.
Duke (27-4, 13-3 ACC) won the first meeting between the teams Feb. 9, but Carolina has turned a slow start into an ACC title. The Tar Heels will hold the top seed in next week's ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
Chapel Hill's Franklin Street was swarming with fans dancing, screaming and setting fires after the victory. After about an hour, police separated the celebrants and put out the fires, but the party quickly resumed.
"We're going to make a deep run in the tournament," UNC student Colin Forbes promised.
At the Top of the Hill restaurant, diners had a meal that was anything but quiet. Every time a Carolina player touched the ball, the crowd erupted.
Bride-to-be Lauren Cook chose to turn her bachelorette party into a game-watching party. She and her bridesmaids went to UNC, and Tar Heel basketball is her first love.
"It is the biggest game of the year," she said.
At the Satisfaction Restaurant and Bar in downtown Durham, the excitement was equally high early in the evening. Duke fan Kenneth Barkley predicted a 12-point Blue Devil win.
But as the outcome became clear, the Cameron Crazies were left unsatisfied.
The Tar Heels (24-6, 14-2) were overdue for a victory, having dropped three straight to Duke. Their last win over the Devils came in the final game of the 2009 regular season, when they took a 79-71 victory before their march to the national title.
