DUKE SURVIVES; FROM PAST TENSE TO FUTURE PERFECT : DUKE 77, NORTH CAROLINA 75.

Byline: Gregg Doyel Charlotte Observer

For nearly 30 minutes Saturday, the Duke Blue Devils were wallowing in the same quicksand that sucked them down to a 24-point loss at North Carolina three weeks earlier.

UNC All-American Antawn Jamison was unstoppable inside. Shammond Williams was unstoppable outside. Duke had the depth, but it was the pencil-thin Tar Heels who seemed to be getting stronger.

Down Duke was going - down from the No. 1 ranking in the country, down from an outright ACC regular-season title.

And then two kids reached into the muck and yanked the Blue Devils up.

Freshmen Elton Brand and William Avery combined for 17 points in Duke's furious second-half rally that lifted the Blue Devils out of a huge second-half hole, and senior Roshown McLeod finished off the rally with the tie-breaking basket in Duke's 77-75 victory in front of 9,314 fans at impossibly loud Cameron Indoor Stadium.

McLeod's basket, with a minute remaining, gave Duke its only lead of the day after trailing by as many as 17 points in the second half.

North Carolina, which scored 16 of the game's first 20 points, missed four free throws in the final 3.8 seconds - two by Ed Cota, two by Brendan Haywood.

With the victory, Duke (27-2, 15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won the ACC title outright - by two games over the No. 3 Tar Heels (27-3, 13-3) - and became the first ACC team to win 15 conference games. The Blue Devils also clinched the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament next week and, if coach Mike Krzyzewski is right, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament's Greensboro-based East regional.

``I think we've earned it over the long haul,'' Krzyzewski said of the East regional, ``winning the league by two games and being ranked No. 1 at the end of the regular season.''

The final 11-1/2 minutes transformed the 200th meeting in series history from a North Carolina blowout to another unforgettable battle. North Carolina led 64-47 with 11:39 remaining when Duke suddenly found the key to its offense and applied the brakes to the streamlined Tar Heels.

Jamison, who had 20 points in the first 28 minutes, was held to three the rest of the way. Williams, with 15 points, didn't score again.

Duke point guard Steve Wojciechowski began compiling assists (11 in all) by the bushel thanks to Brand, who scored 10 points in a 19-4 spurt that cut the Tar Heels' lead to 70-66 with 5:35 left. Avery finished the run with a three-pointer, his seventh point of the rally.

``I wanted the ball at the end,'' said Brand, who scored 16 points in his third game back from a broken foot. ``I was asking for it every time.''

The 6-8, 260-pound Brand's presence inside helped deny Jamison, who spent the bulk of the game to that point covered by McLeod and Shane Battier. Brand got help from the wing, too, as the Blue Devils largely ignored Ademola Okulaja, who is in an 8-for-33 slump (24.2 percent).

``They were really helping off from Okulaja onto Jamison,'' UNC coach Bill Guthridge said. ``We didn't handle some things well.''

Like Brand, who pulled down three offensive rebounds that led to seven second-chance points - including Avery's three-pointer - in Duke's 19-4 rally. Brand's eruption coincided with North Carolina senior center Makhtar Ndiaye - its best interior defender - fouling out with 10:01 left.

``Brand was great,'' Guthridge said, ``but I'm disappointed I couldn't come up with anything to help stop him.''

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PHOTO (Color) Roshown McLeod, who hit the winning shot for No. 1 Duke, celebrates a basket in the first half.

Tom Copeland/Associated Press