All Tar Heels

Quick Hitters Rewind - Duke @ UNC (March 3, 1984)

Quick Hitters from North Carolina’s 96-83 double overtime win over Duke on Senior Night, Saturday, March 3, 1984.

Isaac Schade

  • Before this game, Mike Krzyzewski was 1-6 against UNC, Duke hadn’t won in Chapel Hill since 1966, and Carolina hadn’t lost their last regular season home game since 1968.
  • With the victory, Carolina completed just the sixth perfect ACC conference record.
  • Carolina won the first meeting of the season, 78-73 in Durham. Unfortunately, though, the Heels fell to the Blue Devils 77-75 just one week later in the ACC Semifinals.
  • The game was Senior Day for three Tar Heels – Matt Doherty, Cecil Exum, and Sam Perkins, each of whom was in the starting line-up. At the time of this game, the Carolina seniors were 114-19, the winningest four-year stretch in ACC history to that point (their final tally was 117 wins).
  • In fact, rarely used senior Cecil Exum scored the first bucket of the game.
  • Starting line-ups for each team: Duke – David Henderson, Dan Meagher, Mark Alarie, Johnny Dawkins, Tommy Amaker. North Carolina – Matt Doherty, Cecil Exum, Sam Perkins, Steve Hale, Michael Jordan.
  • Check out Roy Williams with a full head of dark hair. He’s a classy looking young man.
  • You forget how strange it is to not see a continuous graphic on the bottom of the screen. I get annoyed today when a network’s graphic doesn’t show the number of team fouls, much less the standard things like score, time, possession, and shot clock.
  • Incidentally, the shot clock has some interesting rules at this point in history. The clock is 45 seconds in length but is not in effect for the last 4:00. This rule allows Carolina to go to the Four Corners while holding a one-point lead down the stretch.
  • The analog scoreboards in the corners at court level in Carmichael. Classic.
  • Duke’s Jay Bilas had been hurt three days prior against Clemson so he didn’t start. Because of Bilas’ injury, Duke has to play a three guard line-up which is a complete anachronism at this point in the history of college basketball. Today Jay Wright would be saying, “Why only three guards? Get a fourth out there.”
  • Bilas did check in midway through first half. He got a dunk just a few plays later and had a solid game for Duke including an important offensive rebound in the closing stretch. Here's Bilas talking about the game:
  • Johnny Dawkins blocked Michael Jordan early in the game. Jordan then got blocked later in the first half. You have to imagine this is a rare occurrence.
  • So many lead changes back and forth in the first half. Eight in the first nine minutes. All told, the game featured 25 lead changes and 17 ties.
  • Brad Daugherty had a great stretch immediately following the first media timeout. He hit a short jumper in the lane and then finished off a Matt Doherty-led fast break with a vicious dunk, plus the free throw.
  • Freshman Kenny Smith checks in midway through the first half. He is recovering from a wrist injury and has his hand and wrist heavily bandaged. One of the commentators says that Smith is from “The Queens” in New York.
  • We almost witnessed a big-time alley-oop from The Jet to MJ with 11:49 left in the first half. Unfortunately, the pass was a little off the mark and Jordan had to corral before going back up. The freshman version of Smith had several questionable passes throughout the game and often got caught in the air with no destination for the ball.
  • Jordan struggled with his shot in the first half (3-for-11). The troubles left him gun shy as he passed up multiple open looks throughout the half. He started hot in the second half (3-for-3) before committing his fourth foul with 15:42 left in regulation. Jordan never did pick up the fifth foul despite playing two overtimes. Through the rest of the game and overtime he went 5-for-7 from the field, plus 3-for-3 from the line.
  • Steve Hale is a man who knows where to be defensively. He drew multiple offensive fouls in the game including one with 0:30 remaining and Carolina in control of the game.
  • Sam Perkins finished his career as the leading rebounder in Carolina history (1167). He held that mark for a quarter-century before Tyler Hansbrough (1219) surpassed him. To this day, these are the only two Tar Heels to eclipse 1100 career rebounds.
  • The teams combined for just seven turnovers in the first half. Somewhere, Tony Bennett is salivating.
  • With 2:00 left and holding a three-point lead, Carolina went to a “diamond and one” defense with Steve Hale face guarding Johnny Dawkins. For those unaware: A “diamond and one” is where four players are playing zone and the fifth defender is face guarding the opponent’s best offensive weapon. Unlike today’s nearly unswerving commitment to man-to-man defense, Coach Smith switched defenses with a good deal of regularity.
  • Down one with 0:20 left in regulation, Duke got a lay-up plus the foul to take a two-point lead. Steve Hale then missed a baseline jumper with 0:12 left. Brad Daugherty fouled out in the resulting rebounding action. Duke then missed the front end of 1-and-1, allowing Sam Perkins to corral the rebound and call a timeout with 0:07 remaining. Matt Doherty took the ensuing inbounds pass, ran it up the court, fumbled the ball, and yet still hit a shot to send it to overtime. Here's video of Doherty's shot:
  • Duke held the ball for the first 90 seconds of OT before a Tommy Amaker lay-up put the Blue Devils up two. The first overtime was tight with Michael Jordan missing a game-winning attempt at the buzzer.
  • Carolina took the lead at the beginning of the second OT when Jordan hit a lay-up off an alley-oop pass, plus the free throw. The Heels never trailed again. In fact, they outscored Duke 17-4 in the second overtime, including the final 12 points of the game. Rarely do you see an overtime game end with a double-digit cushion (13 points in this case).
  • If you're interested in watching the game in its entirety and don't have the ACC Network, this should help:

Remember to check in for Quick Hitters after every North Carolina basketball game during the season. Stay tuned for more Quick Hitter Rewinds throughout the offseason.

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Isaac Schade
ISAAC SCHADE

I grew up in Atlanta knowing that I was going to be the next Maddux or Glavine or Chipper. Unfortunately, I never grew six feet tall, ran 4.4 in the 40-yard dash, threw 90 m.p.h. on the radar gun, or hit 50 home runs. So I had to find a different way to dive head first into sports - writing about it. My favorite all-time sports moment? 1992. NLCS. Game 7. Sid Bream. Look it up. Worst sports moment ever? Two words: Kris. Jenkins. I live in the bustling metropolis of Webb City, MO, where ministry is my full-time job. I spend my free time with my wife, Maggie, and my two children, Pax & Poppy.

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