Duke basketball dominates UK, wins thriller against UNC to win tourney

In a charity video game tournament, former Duke basketball players joined forces to take down some of the Blue Devils’ biggest rivals to win the title.

Thursday afternoon was The Battle of the Blues: A Call of Duty COVID-19 Relief Tournament.

It featured the blueblood programs of Duke, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Villanova competing in a Final Four-like tournament to see which program would be crowned as the champion.

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The teams were comprised of past, present, and future players, and North Carolina played Villanova in the Opening Round while Duke faced Kentucky.

Duke’s team was comprised of Seth Curry, Grayson Allen, Tre Jones, Cam Reddish, and professional video game player Methodz while the Wildcats had a team of De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Maxey, Terrance Clark, Isaiah Jackson, and gamer Zeno.

While we won’t confuse you with the intricate details of how scoring and playing Call of Duty works, let’s just say that the virtual battle was very much like the events of November 6, 2018, where the Blue Devils beat Kentucky, 118-84.

Duke dominated the match from start to finish, setting up the championship round of ‘The Rivalry’, as UNC took down Villanova in its first-round matchup.

The Duke and North Carolina rivalry has taken place in a lot of places — the court, the field, the diamond, the stands — but I am not sure if we have ever seen a video game edition of ‘The Rivalry’.

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However, once again, not to confuse any readers with the details of Call of Duty, the match was very similar to the Duke and North Carolina games that took place on February 8, 2012, February 17, 2016, and February 8, 2020.

For those who are not familiar, the first date was the comeback Austin Rivers victory, the second was a short-handed Duke team taking down the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill behind 23 points from Grayson Allen, and the final date is the heroics of Tre Jones in the Dean Dome this past season.

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The team of Tar Heels, Justin Jackson, Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson, Brandon Robinson, and gamer Clayster, were leading the Blue Devils virtually the entire match before a strong comeback from Duke led by Allen and Methodz, who were both named as the MVPs of the tournament.

As the event was a fundraiser for those we have been affected by COVID-19, the tournament raised $6,755 for the Dallas Mavericks Foundation COVID-19 Relief Fund.

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So don’t let anyone try and tell you Duke basketball players aren’t 3-0 against North Carolina this season, because they are.

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