In his preview for Saturday’s contest between Duke and North Carolina, Hoops HQ’s Alex Squadron compared UNC’s daunting odds to the biblical David. As the lights came low on Durham, David lay lifeless on the court, hands still clutching his unflung stones.
All told, the 263rd matchup between the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels was a never a contest. Its final score — Duke 87, UNC 70 — does not adequately reflect the magnitude of the beating delivered. Duke eclipsed Carolina in assists, steals and three-point shooting and edged the Tar Heels in field goal and free throw percentage.
Duke hit the court as heavy favorites, boasting a 14-game win streak and a 10-0 start in ACC play. Their KenPom ratings are the most balanced in the nation, ranking sixth in adjusted offensive efficiency and third in defensive efficiency. The Blue Devils benefited also from the return of 6-foot-9 junior Maliq Brown, who missed four games due to a right knee sprain he sustained against Notre Dame. Despite competitive victories over N.C. State and Wake Forest last week, the ACC has yet to prove it can hang with Jon Scheyer’s Blue Devils.
Physically, Duke is a team of Goliaths — the tallest in college ball. Saturday’s starting lineup included the likes of Khaman Maluach (7-foot-2), Cooper Flagg (6-foot-9) and Kon Knueppel (6-foot-7). By contrast, UNC is the 332nd team by height, averaging 6-foot-3 roster-wide.
In a Thursday press conference, Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis addressed the discrepancy and laid out his win condition: “They can cover a lot of space and so to be able to punch gaps, get to the rim, get to on the ball and create open shots on the perimeter, you have to have tremendous spacing, tremendous ball movement. You have to run your offense with pace.” Man plans, Duke laughs.
Length was particularly problematic in the paint, where the Tar Heels struggled dismally to gain momentum. Duke scored 19 points off turnovers against Carolina’s seven. The matchup also marked a season-high 23 deflections for the Blue Devils.
The explosivity and sharpshooting the Tar Heels have banked on historically was halted in its tracks, particularly through the efforts of freshman flames, Kon Knueppel and fan-favorite Cooper Flagg. In one of the strongest games of his NCAA career, Flagg posted 13 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in the first half alone. Flagg’s dominance was epitomized just minutes into the game, with a beautiful pass to 6-foot-6 senior guard Sion James placed neatly between two UNC defenders.
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The Tar Heels are in jeopardy of missing out on the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years. The toughest part of their ACC schedule is about to begin.Knueppel played a similarly dominant game, kicking off the second half with a brilliant slam dunk. He finished with 22 points, five assists and punctuated the win with a gorgeous lob to an airborne James for a masterful jam.
Flagg and Knueppel “absolutely feed off of each other, and I think it starts with their competitiveness,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.
Worth noting too is 6-foot-6 junior guard Tyrese Proctor who, coming off subpar offensive performances against Wake Forest and N.C. State, had 17 points and three assists. “For us to be really good, we need [Proctor] to score and shoot,” coach Scheyer said. “I thought his preparation these last two days were the highest level … .We have to help get him more looks. That was a big thing for me tonight, to get him some more looks and opportunities and he took advantage.”
Duke will meet North Carolina again on March 8th, this time in Chapel Hill’s Dean Smith Center. The Tar Heels have a lot of work to do between now and then in order for that game to be competitive. “You move forward, you continue, you competitively fight,” coach Hubert Davis said. “There’s so much of the season still left….The one encouraging thing for me, is that I don’t think we’ve reached our full potential.”