We thought there a chance that Duke could blow the doors off of UNC and that’s what happened as the Blue Devils won, 87-70. It wasn’t really that close until the Blue Devils took their foot off the gas late and the Tar Heels ran off a 17-2 spurt. Up until that point, Duke was absolutely rolling.
Behind a terrific start by Cooper Flagg, the Blue Devils jumped out to an 18-6 lead, and Flagg either hit or assisted on every basket to that point.
It was just an overwhelming performance by the home team. UNC didn’t hit double figures until 11:57 in the first half when Jalen Washington hit a pair of free throws.
At the half, Duke was up 47-25 and if you thought it was going to get better for UNC to start the second half, well, that didn’t happen.
Kon Knueppel scored six straight points and got an assist on a Sion James three. Toss in a Flagg free throw and Duke built a 54-30 lead.
Six more points later by Knueppel, and Duke was up 62-34.
It was just an onslaught – until UNC caught fire.
Duke was up 77-45 with 8:41 to play. and with 2:43 left, they were up 79-63 after some Knueppel free throws.
It was surely encouraging for UNC to dominate Duke for a stretch, not least of all because of how thoroughly Duke dominated them for most of the game. The truth is though that right now at least, these teams aren’t really in the same league. You can’t rule out UNC catching fire at some point – we saw NC State do that beautifully last year – but at this point? No, not really.
That was clear early.
UNC’s advantage should have been quickness, but the bigger Blue Devils just dominated the Heels.
At various points we saw the following: Flagg with two steals and four assists in the first five minutes, including an assist to Sion James for a dunk to start things off. We saw Khaman Maluach, all 7-2 of him, guarding UNC’s perimeter players and staying in front of them. How does that happen? We saw an utterly dominant defense buoyed by a highly efficient offense. And we saw something else that warmed the hearts of Blue Devils everywhere: the return of Maliq Brown.
Brown had been out since Duke’s win over Notre Dame on January 11th and he came back with a bang. He was immediately disruptive, challenging anyone who came near him with the ball. Duke has made it through his absence okay, but there’s no denying the impact he has on the defense. It’s phenomenal how often he gets into passing lanes or knocks the ball out of someone’s hands.
If Duke’s advantages over UNC weren’t clear in the first few minutes, it was not long afterward when Knueppel started taking people into the paint. We saw Ian Jackson only able to put his hands up. He took RJ Davis at least once, possibly twice, and the 6-0 Davis has no chance of guarding him near the basket.
We saw Tyrese Proctor have one of his better all-round games of the season.
There really wasn’t much to complain about in this game, other than Duke giving up the 17-2 run late. We’re sure the staff will be discussing that with their young team but other than that, it was a brilliant performance.
Duke shot 52.8 overall and 50 percent from deep. The Blue Devils assisted on 20 of 28 shots.
UNC was held to 47.3 percent overall and 36.8 percent from behind the line and had 14 turnovers, 10 of them steals by Duke. Until the late run, no one was getting easy shots. RJ Davis finished 4-11 for 12 points, almost all of them in the second half. Elliot Cadeau, who got called for a nasty Flagrant 1 against Proctor, was 3-10 and had five of the turnovers himself. Seth Trimble shot 4-8 for 10 points.
The big guys struggled with Duke’s size. Davis started Ven-Allen Lubin, but he struggled with Maluach and Flagg and you saw Davis send Washington in more than once when Duke was dominating the paint.
The bench wasn’t much help either. At one point, Jae’Lyn Withers tried to put a move on Flagg, who stripped him immediately. Cade Tyson shot one shot and the side of the backboard.
James Brown did have one impressive move in the paint that made you think, well…this guy might be somebody some day…but that was it.
Only Drake Powell was very helpful, hitting 5-8 for 12 points.
Surprisingly – it sure didn’t seem like it – UNC did well on the boards, with 31 total and 12 offensive to Duke’s 26 total and seven offensive.
Even that was sort of odd though because Cadeau, Trimble and Davis got four, five and five respectively.
To add insult to injury, as it turns out, Flagg has actually been a bit ill. He didn’t shoot great – 6-15 – but was within shouting distance of a triple double with 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Knueppel finished with 22 on 7-11/2-4. He also had five assists, five rebounds and two steals.
Proctor shot 5-10/2-5, along with three assists and two rebounds.
James had 13 on 4-7/1-3.
Brown had two points, three rebounds, two steals and two assists, but that grossly underestimates his contributions. We should call him insomnia because you can never sleep when he’s around.
Mason Gillis and Isaiah Evans both hit a three.
With the win, Duke moves to 19-2 and 11-0 in the ACC and the win streak is up to 15. The Blue Devils go to Syracuse on Wednesday before a trip to Clemson next Saturday that promises to be one of the best games of the ACC season.
Notes – the passing in this game was at times just gorgeous…it’s also great to see Maluach learning how to go straight up with the ball, which he did once with his left hand…UNC attempted to zone Duke in the second half and Scheyer sent Evans in…he promptly buried a three…it’s impossible to understate Brown’s performance…his defense was brilliant and his passing was well above average…his return to Syracuse should be interesting…
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