Duke Basketball: Unexpected heroes key in victory over North Carolina

In the victory over North Carolina, the Duke Basketball team had some unexpected heroes emerge and help lead the Blue Devils to the much needed win.

Mike Krzyzewski said this was vintage Duke vs. North Carolina.

In a must win game, the Blue Devils found themselves down 33-20 with 7-minutes left in the first half. North Carolina senior Cameron Johnson was on fire, scoring 14 early points and it seemed like the Tar Heels were in complete control of the game.

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This looked similar to the prior two matchups, even with Zion Williamson in the lineup for Duke.

That’s when Krzyzewski inserted sophomore guard Jordan Goldwire into the lineup. Goldwire spent a lot of time guarding Johnson in his career high 28 minutes and he was able to apply pressure on the senior, who would only score nine points the rest of the game.

The six-foot-two-inch Goldwire is a lot smaller than Johnson but he was able to get right into his space and make him uncomfortable. Johnson wasn’t quick enough to drive past the smaller Goldwire so he was settling for tough unbalanced jump shots.

Krzyzewski stresses to his bench guys to always stay ready because you never know when your number is going to be called.

“I do have confidence in the guys,” Krzyzewski said. “and just ask them that, when their number’s called to, you know, just be yourself and play your butt off.”

And that’s exactly what Goldwire did. He literally played himself into exhaustion and had to receive fluids after the game.

One of the biggest plays of the game occurred late in the second half with Duke trailing 71-70.

R.J. Barrett drove to the basket and got the ball knocked away but Goldwire was right there to grab the loose ball under the hoop and put it in to put the Blue Devils up 72-71 with just under two minutes to play.

On Friday night he seemed to always be in the right spot at the right time.

Goldwire would end his day with four points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist. And Duke needed every single one of those.

Another unlikely hero stepped up for Duke in a huge way Friday night. Senior big man Antonio Vrankovic was not expecting to play.

He thought senior night may have been his final memory of playing for Duke. But his story was far from finished.

Vrank said he’s always ready to go in but had no idea if would be tonight. I asked if he kind of thought senior night was going to be his last memory. “To be honest, yes”
— Shawn Krest (@ShawnKrest) March 16, 2019

The senior averaged just 5.1 minutes this season but with Marques Bolden out, the Blue Devils needed Vrankovic when Javin DeLaurier went out in the first half with foul trouble.

He was able to make an immediate impact when he got the ball under the hoop and found a cutting Goldwire for the layup. A few possessions later he got the ball at the top of the key and lobbed a pass to Williamson for the dunk.

In a game of this magnitude, Vrankovic was ready when his number was called.

Duke may need Vrankovic again tonight when they face off with Florida State, who has one of the biggest teams in the country.

The Duke North Carolina rivalry is filled with legendary performances from legendary players but sometimes you need those performances from the players you least expect them from and Duke got that tonight.

Williamson was once again the main story, but the two guys who combined to average 2.1 points a game this season stepped up and turned in one of those performances nobody will forget.

And Coach K was right, this was vintage Duke North Carolina.

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