Livescore
The first meeting between between Duke and North Carolina since the retirement of legendary Blue Devils’ coach Mike Krzyzewski delivered in a big way on Saturday as the Blue Devils emerged from a back-and-forth affair with a 63-57 victory. North Carolina failed to score for nearly four minutes to close the game in a fitting cap to a contest defined by defense.
Neither team shot 40% from the floor, but UNC particularly struggled. The Tar Heels shot just 34% for the game and only 28.6% in the second half. Leading the defensive charge for Duke was freshman center Dereck Lively II, who blocked a career-high eight shots.
Fittingly, it was Duke junior point guard Jeremy Roach who produced a critical bucket with 21 seconds left to put the Blue Devils ahead 61-57. Roach finished with a game-high 20 points and secured some redemption after a poor offensive showing in last year’s Final Four loss to the Tar Heels.
With neither team ranked and both needing a big February to compete for the ACC title, the game carried high stakes for both squads, and that was apparent as they traded blows throughout the evening. UNC led by seven in the first half while Duke led by six in the second before things tightened up down the stretch.
Lively atmosphere
Lively finished with just four points on 2-of-3 shooting, but he may have been Duke’s most valuable player. He set new career highs in minutes (34), rebounds (14) and eight blocks as he swatted more shots than any Duke player ever had in a game against North Carolina.
He did not score until 8:44 remained, when he dunked an offensive rebound to put Duke ahead 51-50. But by then, Lively already had seven blocks. With Lively patrolling the paint, North Carolina star center Armando Bacot scored only two points on 1 of 4 shooting in the second half.
Lively arrived at Duke as the No. 2 ranked prospect in the Class of 2022, but the 7-foot-1 center has been only a role player for the Blue Devils. He entered the UNC game averaging just 4.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and two blocks in 16.6 minutes per game while bouncing in and out of the starting lineup. But he may be turning a corner, especially on defense, as this marked the fourth time in the last five Duke games that Lively has finished with at least three blocks.
He is becoming on the nation’s best shot blockers, and he picked a huge moment to put that skill on full display.
Big month needed
A year ago, North Carolina lost at home to Duke on Feb. 5 and fell to 16-7 (8-4 ACC) in Hubert Davis’ first season as coach. The Tar Heels were on the bubble but won seven of their final eight regular season games to make the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed. From there, they made it all the way to the Final Four, atoning for a lackluster regular season.
It’s looking more and more like North Carolina will need to replicate last season’s strong February just to make the NCAA Tournament. At just 15-8 (7-5), the Tar Heels are at risk of becoming one of the most disappointing preseason No. 1 teams in recent memory. North Carolina has dropped two straight and faces tricky contests at Wake Forest and at home against Clemson next week.
UNC entered the day as a projected No. 9 seed in Jerry Palm’s Bracketology, and the Duke loss shouldn’t damage its resume too badly considering it will go down as a Quad 1 defeat. But this team was disappointingly flat this week in losses to Pitt and Duke, and the Tar Heels need to find a spark.
Statistical quirks
The teams were an even 50-50 over their last 100 meetings in a sign of just how competitive the rivalry has been over the years. In breaking the deadlock and getting coach Jon Scheyer his first win in the series, Duke benefitted from a couple lopsided statistical quirks.
For one thing, the Blue Devils won the battle of fast break points 20-2 and held a 16-0 edge in the category at halftime. But perhaps the strangest statistical anomaly of the game was the fact that North Carolina attempted just three free throws and none in the second half.
UNC entered fifth in the country, averaging 24.7 attempts from the charity stripe per game game. But they never even got to the bonus in the second half as Duke was whistled for just six second-half fouls and only 11 for the game.
By contrast, Duke attempted 15 free throws. While Tar Heels’ fans might blame the officiating crew for the discrepancy, Lively also deserves much of the credit. He established himself as an interior enforcer in the game’s opening minutes, and the Tar Heels looked hesitant to attack the basket against Duke’s towering tandem of Lively and Kyle Filipowski.
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