Duke Basketball: Zion Williamson leaves with injury in the opening seconds
The attention of the country is focused on Durham, North Carolina as the first installment of ‘The Rivalry’ is at halftime between the Duke Basketball team and the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski continued to roll with the starting lineup of Tre Jones, Cam Reddish, R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Marques Bolden against the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Cameron Indoor Stadium was once again celebrity central with former President Barack Obama, MLB Hall of Famer Ken Griffey, and movie star Spike Lee in the house, but there was still a game to be played.
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It didn’t take long for a storyline to develop tonight as Zion Williamson broke through his shoe in the opening 40 seconds of this game and went down grabbing the back of his knee and leg area.
Zion limped to the end of the Duke bench and then eventually limped to the Duke locker room and did not return to the game or the bench for the remainder for the first half.
Duke provided an update on Williamson, saying he will not return to this game with a knee injury.
Once Williamson went down, it was all North Carolina, all the time as the Tar Heels lead 42 -32 at halftime.
Luke Maye feasted inside without the presence of Williamson, finishing the first half with 18 points and six rebounds on eight of thirteen shooting.
Both teams were horrific from 3-point range, with the Blue Devils shooting a lowly two of twenty and the ‘Heels making only one of its fourteen attempts.
With Williamson out for the game, Duke must regroup and try to build some momentum to start the second half.
R.J. Barrett finished the first half with 15 points, he has to become the alpha-male that he is. Cam Reddish had 13 points at halftime, he has to become the knockdown shooter that many know he is.
Both players might need close to 40 if Duke wants to win this game.
The Blue Devils are also going to need some contributions from the bench in the second half if Duke has any thought of coming back to win this game.
It won’t be easy, but it’s possible and it will take a perfect 20 minutes of basketball.
Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the North Carolina Tar Heels.