One of the biggest reasons the Duke basketball team had won 11-of-12 games entering its matchup against North Carolina was sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor, but he was one of the biggest disappointments on Saturday night.
Proctor finished with just two points, three rebounds, and two assists on just 1-of-6 shooting and did not attempt a 3-pointer in the 93-84 loss.
He had, by far, the worst performance by any of the other Blue Devils starters, which all scored at least 11 points.
The bench, comprised of Ryan Young, Sean Stewart, and Caleb Foster, combined to score just six points, but were efficient on its limited shots on 3-of-6 shooting.
“We need him to be really good. He is really good," Jon Scheyer said after the game.
Defensively, Proctor did do a good job of defending North Carolina star RJ Davis but he ended up finishing with 17 points and five assists on 5-of-14 shooting, making 2-of-3 attempts from 3-point range.
"Knowing Tyrese, he’s going to bounce back on Wednesday," Scheyer added. "That’s what he’s made out of. It’s what he’s shown for a year-and-a-half. He didn’t have his best game tonight. I believe in him."
Proctor was averaging 16.4 points per game before his struggles against North Carolina, which were all victories for the Blue Devils with the exception of its game against Pittsburgh when Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell were out with injury.
"I really believe in this team," the second year head coach continued. "The thing that I’ve said, throughout this year, this group hasn’t gotten it perfect all the time."
"The core group is back from last year, they always respond. They always respond. I’m looking forward to seeing how we respond."
No. 9 Duke (16-5, 7-3 ACC) will take the floor on Wednesday night (9:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network) against Notre Dame (7-15, 2-9 ACC) inside Cameron Indoor Stadium as the team begins a 3-game homestand.