Bit of blood links ex-teammates

CHAPEL HILL -- The droplets on the floor were wiped up. The smears on the jersey were laundered away.

But there is still blood evidence from the foul in March that left North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough's nose gushing and Duke's Gerald Henderson ejected. It's on former Tar Heel Dewey Burke's high-tops, which now reside in a trophy case back home in Philadelphia.

"You can still see the blood on them, and it sparks a lot of conversation,'' said Burke, a walk-on guard who held Hansbrough back after Henderson's swinging forearm broke the star's nose. "People are like, 'Are those the shoes you were wearing when ... ?' "

Burke, who had just checked into the game, was hovering beyond the 3-point line when, with 14.5 seconds left, Hansbrough chased down his own missed free throw, rose for a put-back and was clobbered in mid-air by Henderson.

As the All-America lay on the floor, Burke rushed in to see if his friend was OK and then held him back after he rose -- blood pouring from his nose, down his chin, past his jersey and onto Burke's size 11 1/2 Air Jordans.

"I was just trying to talk in his ear, keep him calm, tell him to breathe,'' Burke said. "Once he saw how much blood there was, he was mad ... and I knew if he went after anyone, they'd throw him out of the game."

Hansbrough did end up leaving the game for treatment. Burke finished it, with signs of the episode still on his toes.

The senior wore the red-splotched sneakers the rest of the season for good luck -- "Tyler really got a kick out of that," he said -- and they're now on display beside his ACC Tournament ring.

Burke, who now owns his own management company, will attend the Duke-Carolina rematch at the Smith Center tonight.

"I really can't say I'm happy that I was part of that moment, because even though it was such a big event in such a long line of huge rivalry games, it came at the expense of Tyler's face," he said. "But I'll definitely never forget it."