Duke once again forgot to show up in the beginning of the 2nd half as North Carolina took full advantage, downing the Blue Devils.
Duke was up as many as 12 points in the 1st half before Carolina cut the halftime deficit to 4, before bolting on a 16-2 run to start the 2nd half, and never looking back.
The Tar Heels beat Duke to all of the loose balls and, frankly, looked like they wanted to win the game more.
Kenny Williams must not have been on the Duke scouting report as he scorched the Devils from the outside going 6-12, for 20 total points.
As a team, the Heels went 11-33 from deep.
Trevon Duval had a rough night, to say the least for Duke as poor decision making and bad shot selection from the freshman really hurt the Blue Devils. He racked up 4 turnovers on 2-9 shooting. Duval fouled out with 3:23 left in the game.
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After a relatively fast start, Grayson Allen looked to more of a facilitator for the Blue Devils rather than trying to find his shot. Allen finished with 9 points going 3-9 from the floor.
A bright point for the Blue Devils was the play of sophomore Marques Bolden. In his year and a half at Duke, this was by far Bolden’s best game, finishing with 8 points, 4-4 from the floor, all in the first half.
Marvin Bagley III was dominant for the Blue Devils. He feasted on the smaller interior of the Tar Heels, for 15 points and 16 rebounds. Wendell Carter Jr. struggled, but when he got his shot he was efficient. He was 4-7 from the field, 2-3 beyond the arc for 10 points, only pulling down 5 boards.
Like the St. John’s game, Duke was unable to consistently grab defensive rebounds in the second half, allowing Carolina to grab 20 offensive rebounds.
Duke had the Carolina lead down to 74-71, but Gary Trent Jr. missed a wide open three in the corner.
With 34 seconds left, Duke cut the Heels lead to 4, but Tar Heels star Joel Berry made one of two from the line. A turnover by Allen, followed by a Theo Pinson slam ended any shot the Blue Devils had at a comeback.
Duke has now lost two in a row, and three of their last four. Duke is not close to where it needs to be at this point in the season. Despite what some may say, Grayson Allen isn’t the leader of this team. Duke is a leaderless team and until someone steps up this Blue Devil team will be stuck in neutral.
Duke will get another shot at North Carolina on March 3rd in Cameron, but before that Duke heads to Georgia Tech in what is now a must-win game for Duke on Sunday.