March 15, 2003

North Carolina looks to upset intrastate-rival Duke for the second time in a week as the two meet Saturday in the first all-North Carolina semifinal in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament since 1963.

Last Sunday, freshman Rashad McCants scored a game-high 26 points as the Tar Heels (17-14) beat No. 12 Duke 82-79 in the regular season finale, snapping a six-game losing streak to the Blue Devils.

The tight contest even featured a scuffle in front of the Duke bench in which Blue Devils reserve guard Andre Buckner pushed North Carolina coach Matt Doherty.

"It was such a beautiful game we didn't want to ruin it," Doherty said when asked about the run-in. "That's what (Duke) Coach (Mike) Krzyzewski talked about. We shook hands, and we wanted to move on. We didn't want to ruin a great day."

For the Tar Heels, who struggled to a 6-10 record in the ACC, the win was the highlight of the conference season - until Friday's 84-72 win over No. 14 Maryland in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament.

"We believe in what we're doing now," said McCants, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds. "We're a confident team, and it shows in our play."

Jawad Williams scored a career-high 25 points, Raymond Felton had 20 points and 10 assists and Melvin Scott added a career-high 19 points for the seventh-seeded Tar Heels, who suffered their worst conference loss in school history to the Terrapins during the regular season.

"We were embarrassed the last time we played them," forward David Noel said. "When you get beat by 40, you don't want to see anybody on campus the next day. That was the low point of the season. This is the high point. It doesn't get any better."

Doherty believes the two upsets might even merit some attention from the NCAA selection committee.

"We're playing our best basketball right now, and I think we should get some consideration," he said. "We should be a topic of conversation in their war room."

The Blue Devils (22-6) earned their trip to the semifinals with Friday's 83-76 win over Virginia.

Sophomore Daniel Ewing, normally a reserve, started the game in place of Casey Sanders and scored a career-high 32 points.

"We thought we would try to go faster," Krzyzewski said. "We wanted to try to get Daniel in there more. However we try to do that, it's a good thing. We need to keep him on the court longer.

"It's not like we're down on Casey. It's more that we're up on Daniel."

Dahntay Jones added 16 points, J.J. Redick scored 12 and Shelden Williams had 10 for the Blue Devils, who have not lost in the tournament since a loss to North Carolina in the championship game in 1998.