'Battle of the Blues' Heats Up Tonight

WRALSportsFan

'Battle of the Blues' Heats Up Tonight

Feb 6, 2008

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Chapel Hill, N.C. — Get ready for the 22nd edition of the battle of the blues. A legendary basketball rivalry will heat up the Dean Dome tonight as second-ranked Duke takes on third-ranked Carolina at 9 p.m.

The Tar Heels have beaten Duke three consecutive times, but much of the talk recently has been about the fall of one of Carolina’s top players.

In a game against Florida State on Sunday, point guard Ty Lawson injured his ankle, which could keep the standout from being on the court tonight.

Another hot topic is last year’s foul heard round the world. Fans were feuding after Duke’s Gerald Henderson caught Tyler Hansbrough in the face with a forearm.

In the days after the incident, which Henderson has always maintained was unintentional, the Duke sophomore turned to an old friend to help mend the Duke-Carolina fences – high school teammate Wayne Ellington.

"He was the guy that got me Tyler's number, to call him before the ACC Tournament," Henderson said.

"It was just lingering, and I knew he didn't do anything on purpose,” said Ellington. "He just wanted to get in touch with Tyler, so I got them on the phone. They talked about it, and he apologized."

"[It was] just to see how he was doing, and tell him whatever happened was unintentional on my part," a stoic Henderson recounted.

To this day, Hansbrough still doesn't like talking about the incident, but he has gone on record saying he doesn't think Henderson ever meant to break his nose.

Despite the claims from both sides that it was all accidental, one thing is certain: Duke's high-flying guard will not get a warm welcome from the Carolina faithful tonight.

You can watch the Battle of the Blues on WRAL tonight at 9 p.m. Then stay with WRAL after the game for fans' and coaches’ reactions. WRAL.com will have the complete coaches' news conferences and reaction in our blogs.

Most Recent Comments

"Doesn't mean he'll play or be anywhere near full strength. If he's still hurt, I can't imagine playing him much unless he's needed. If Carolina does alright without him, he still may not play."

Tis what I’ve been sayin’ about him playin’

go tarheels!!!

GO TARHEELS!!!!!!!

"Just In: Lawson is suiting up tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Doesn't mean he'll play or be anywhere near full strength. If he's still hurt, I can't imagine playing him much unless he's needed. If Carolina does alright without him, he still may not play.

"The best thing that could happen tonight would be for the impending storm to drop a tornado on the Dean Dome and put an end to all of this dou - che baggery."

LOL, Central_Law!!!

The best part about this game is that we can finally put an end to all that talk about who played a weaker schedule, who played the toughest teams in TRUE road games, etc. Now we get to see once and for all who is better!

GO DUKE!!!!!

The best thing that could happen tonight would be for the impending storm to drop a tornado on the Dean Dome and put an end to all of this dou - che baggery.

WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan