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CHAPEL HILL — On the day North Carolina's seniors said goodbye to the Smith Center, the only junior in the starting lineup played the pivotal role in a victory over archrival Duke.

And he almost didn't play at all. Because it hurt him to pivot.

Point guard Ty Lawson — bad big toe and all — finished with 13 points, nine assists and eight rebounds to help No. 2 North Carolina beat No. 7 Duke 79-71 on senior day Sunday afternoon at the Smith Center.

All-America senior Tyler Hansbrough fouled out of his final game at the Dean Dome with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds as the Tar Heels (27-3, 13-3 ACC) finished the regular season atop the ACC standings for the 27th time.

"It's a hard game to play," Hansbrough said. "First of all, you're thinking about everything. You're thinking about your after-game speech and you're thinking about 'oh man, this is my last game in the Dean Dome.' You start to think about how your college career is coming to an end. And on top of all that, you're still trying to focus on this game and get the win."

In the end, the Tar Heels got the win — and a season sweep of Duke (25-6, 11-5) — thanks to balanced scoring and the grit shown by their little point guard.

Wayne Ellington scored 16 points, Deon Thompson 14 and senior Danny Green 12 for the Heels, who sewed up the top seed in the ACC Tournament for the third consecutive season and the fourth time in the last five. And Lawson sewed up the victory, shooting 9-for-10 from the foul line and playing a team-high 36 minutes on a bad right foot.

Lawson injured his right big toe during practice Friday. Coach Roy Williams said if the game had been played Saturday, Lawson wouldn't have played at all.

Lawson needed a pain-killing shot just to play Sunday, and he hobbled off the court after the postgame ceremony honoring the seniors. The toe was wrapped in ice and an Ace bandage while Lawson spoke to the media.

"The x-rays showed I broke it, but the bone was smooth so that break happened a while ago," Lawson said. "It really hurts, and it's just tough to move off of it and pivot. ... It felt like I was running on four toes out there. It felt like my balance was off a little bit."

It didn't show. Lawson scored just two points in the first half, but he dished out five assists. He scored 11 points in the second half, five in the final minute to finish off the Blue Devils.

"We had an opportunity to win the game," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It got down to one possession in the last few minutes, and they had three huge plays."

Three plays. Each worth three points. And Lawson had assists on two and scored on the third.

Jon Scheyer scored 24 points and Kyle Singler had 23 for the Blue Devils, who came into the game with a chance at a first-place tie in the final ACC standings. But the loss -- coupled with Wake Forest's victory over Clemson -- dropped them to a third seed.

Gerald Henderson scored 14 points for Duke, and his dunk cut Carolina's lead to 65-63 with less than five minutes left. It also set the stage for the first of those three big plays: Thompson's hoop-and-harm three-point play off Lawson's assist with 4:46 left.

Scheyer hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead back to two, but the Heels answered immediately when Lawson's pass found Green for an open 3-point jumper. Lawson's basket-and-foul three-point play pushed Carolina's lead to 76-69 with 1:03 left.

"Those three exchanges were what won the game," Krzyzewski said. "You get it down where there is some pressure and you need a (defensive) stop and we weren't able to get the stop. In fact, instead of a stop they scored three points on us. &ellipses; The key thing is those three plays, and their kids made them. And that's why they won. That's the story."

It's the story of a sore-toed junior helping send Carolina's seniors out as winners.

Notes: Duke led at halftime, and the lead changed hands seven times. ... Hansbrough is 52 points behind Duke alum J.J. Redick on the ACC's all-time scoring list. North Carolina's 6-foot-9 senior needs 15 more rebounds to pass Sam Perkins and become the Tar Heels' all-time leader. ... Green has played in 116 Carolina victories, breaking a tie with Perkins for the school record. … Hansbrough shot 2-for-3 from 3-point range. It's the first time in his career he's made more than one 3-pointer in a game. He's just 12-for-34 from behind the arc in his career, but four of those 3-pointers were against Duke. "I was feeling it," Hansbrough said. "I made the first two, and I thought the third one was going in, too. I'm not scared to shoot that shot." ... Duke's Scheyer was nearly perfect, shooting 7-for-7 from the field, 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 7-for-8 from the foul line. ... Duke’s Singler shot just 2-for-10 from the floor in the second half. … North Carolina has finished atop the ACC standings 27 times (17 solo and 10 shared titles). … Duke has finished first or tied for first 18 times.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

DUKE (26-5, 11-5)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Singler 38 7-18 5-6 3-6 1 4 23

Thomas 31 1-1 0-0 1-2 1 2 2

Henderson 35 4-11 6-11 1-4 3 3 14

Williams 38 3-11 1-2 1-4 1 4 8

Scheyer 39 7-7 7-8 0-3 5 4 24

Paulus 6 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

McClure 6 0-0 0-0 0-2 1 1 0

Zoubek 7 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 3 0

Totals 200 22-50 19-27 6-22 12 22 71

Percentages: FG .440, FT .704.

3-point goals: 8-21, .381 (Singler 4-10, Scheyer 3-3, Williams 1-5, Henderson 0-1, Paulus 0-2).

Team rebounds: 0.

Blocked shots: 3 (Singler 2, Zoubek).

Turnovers: 11 (Henderson 5, Singler 4, Williams, Thomas).

Steals: 9 (Scheyer 4, Henderson, Williams, Zoubek, Singler, Paulus).

NORTH CAROLINA (27-3, 13-3)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Green 34 5-10 0-0 2-4 1 2 12

Copeland 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Hansbrough 33 5-11 5-7 1-8 1 5 17

Frasor 17 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 3

Lawson 36 2-7 9-10 2-8 9 1 13

Drew II 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0

Thompson 27 6-10 2-3 1-5 0 4 14

Ellington 32 7-10 1-5 1-2 2 1 16

Davis 10 2-3 0-0 1-4 0 2 4

Zeller 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Totals 200 28-53 17-25 12-37 14 19 79

Percentages: FG .528, FT .680.

3-point goals: 6-12, .500 (Hansbrough 2-3, Green 2-5, Frasor 1-1, Ellington 1-2, Lawson 0-1).

Team rebounds: 6.

Blocked shots: 4 (Hansbrough 2, Thompson, Green).

Turnovers: 11 (Lawson 4, Green 2, Ellington 2, Hansbrough, Thompson, Drew II).

Steals: 5 (Green 3, Thompson, Frasor).

Duke 39 32 — 71

North Carolina 38 41 — 79

Officials—Jamie Luckie, Bryan Kersey, Mike Eades. A—21,750.