The State of North Carolina Thrived From the Three-Point Line

Only three of the 18 Division I Men’s basketball teams from the great state of North Carolina were in action last night–No. 6 Duke, UNC-Greensboro and Elon. But boy did the three of them put on a show from three-point range.

Duke, the fourth-best three-point shooting team in the country (41.4 percent) knocked down an eye-popping 70.6 percent (12-17) last night in a blowout win against Virginia Tech. Seth Curry led the way, knocking down five of six threes while freshman Rasheed Sulaimon also buried three of four. For Duke, the 12 made threes were the most in a game this season.

Not only did the Blue Devils connect on over 70 percent, they limited the Hokies to 1-16 (6.3 percent) shooting from beyond the arc. The country’s leading scorer Erick Green (1-2) hit the only three for Va Tech. It was the second-worst loss of the season for VT–the first being a 36-point drubbing courtesy of the Colorado State Rams. Duke improved to 23-3 (10-3 ACC) while Virginia Tech fell to 11-15 (2-11 ACC).

UNC-Greensboro, a team shooting only 34 percent from three this season, knocked down 20-of-36 three-pointers in a 26-point beat-down of Chattanooga. Sophomore hybrid Nick Paulos came off the bench and in just 21 minutes poured in 30 points on 10-12 shooting–all threes.   The Spartans made 11 three-pointers on five occasions this year, but the 20 they made last night is a program-record. The Spartans, who are just 8-18 on the season, also had 27 assists (on 34 made baskets).

The Elon Phoenix were the least successful of the trio despite being the second-best record-wise with a 19-8 mark. The needed every one of their nine treys to secure a 63-62 win at Samford. Three different players hit three-pointers for a team that shoots only 34.1 percent. Their season-high for makes is 16 against non-Division I Bridgewater College.

The three NC schools combined to shoot 41-74 (55.4 percent) from behind the arc.

Duke will look to continue its hot shooting at Cameron Indoor on Sunday against a Boston College team it beat by a point in Chestnut Hill.

UNC-Greensboro heads to Samford tomorrow for an 8 p.m. tip. Samford (8-7 SoCon) is in 2nd-place in the North Division standings, but only holds a two-game lead over last-place UNCG.

Elon, the SoCon North leader with a 12-3 mark, heads to Chattanooga (6-9 SoCon) to take on the Mocs on Saturday night.

Samford and Chattanooga had better practice their perimeter defense before hitting the court tomorrow.