This game didn’t start off all that well for Duke. First, Patrick Ngongba was listed as a game-time decision, and he did warm up, but didn’t play. And then, part way through the first half, Caleb Foster fell to his knees in the lane and didn’t seem to move.
We didn’t understand what happened, but thought that he had probably been concussed. He looked stunned.
As it turned out, he had a foot injury and was done for the night, and probably longer (we’ll get back to that).
As it turned out, even without
two starters, Duke was by far the superior team, winning 76-61 – and it wasn’t that close.
It was for much of the first half and into the second. Duke-UNC games tend to follow a pattern – one team shoots out in front on adrenaline, then the other team catches up, usually 5-7 minutes in, and things are more or less even the rest of the way.
Well, that pattern held for a few minutes.
There were a few early lead changes, but Duke took the lead back quickly, building a 12-point lead at 27-15.
Foster went down with 4:51 left and Duke up 30-22.
UNC cut into the lead, shaving it down to 29-37 right after halftime before cutting it to just 41-40 on a Luka Bogavc three at the 19:16 mark. And that was about the last gasp for the Tar Heels.
And then Duke took over.
Again.
First, Cameron Boozer hit a three, then Isaiah Evans got one, and suddenly the lead was back to 7 at 47-40.
UNC pushed back to down 3 at 47-44 before Duke got some separation again. Cayden Boozer got a three, then Dame Sarr got one of his own from the corner.
Then Malik Brown got a steal and Sarr hit another three to give Duke a 53-44 lead.
The Dame Sarr Show continued as the freshman from Italy got a steal and dunked it.
After that, Maliq Brown hit a rare three and shortly after that, Cameron Boozer powered in a layup that put the Blue Devils up 60-44. It wasn’t enough to assume victory, but things were trending in the right direction.
Evans hit a three at the 10:59 mark to give Duke a 19-point lead, and in this rivalry, 19-point leads are as rare as hen’s teeth.
Then Boozer hit a layup, Evans got a dunk, Brown got an alley-oop from Sarr, and suddenly the lead was 69-46.
And that, really was it for the Tar Heels. Not many teams could come back from down 23 with hat all, and very few with 7:40 to play. A great Rick Pitino team? Maybe. Maybe not.
Duke’s biggest lead was 71-46 with 6:03 left, and at a certain point, it’s just too much. And it was far too much for this Carolina team.
Obviously, they were missing Caleb Wilson. If you missed it somehow, he broke the thumb on his right hand, after previously having injured his left.
Even without him, though, Duke ultimately dominated Carolina. UNC had 14 turnovers, with 4 by Luka Bogavac. Henri Veesaar, Seth Trimble, Jonathan Powell, and Kyan Evans each had a pair. The Blue Devils also thoroughly dominated the backboards, 42-29 overall and 18-5 on the offensive boards.
To break that down a bit, Duke hit the offensive boards at a 3.6 to 1 rate. Add 14 turnovers 24 defensive rebounds, and that’s 38 shots the Tar Heels were denied.
And that’s a lot to overcome.
The hard truth about this UNC team is this: they’re starting five role players. Jarin Stevenson has played well in stretches, and he had 10 points and 9 rebounds Saturday, but if Wilson was available, he’d be coming off the bench.
Veesaar is a good center, but Wilson made him look better than he is. On one play, the 7-0 Veesaar took Boozer down to the left side of the basket and went up…and, well…he couldn’t.
Not really.
He ended up kind of chunking up a weak shot that missed, one that Wilson would have scored easily on.
We realized, too, that when he is Robin to Wilson’s Batman, that Wilson’s strength and athleticism a) took defenders away from him, and b) masked Veesaar’s physical weakness.
This really shows up in rebounding. Before Wilson’s injury, Veesaar was averaging 9.1 per game. Since Wilson’s injury, he’s been getting 4.5 – basically, half as many.
Veesaar is best when someone else can take the pressure off of him. It’s harder to see this in on TV, but in person, you can really tell: he’s just not very strong, as Boozer found out (and so did Brown, for that mw
Seth Trimble is a senior and while he’s had some great moments, most memorably to end the last Duke-UNC game in dramatic fashion, he’s not really on anyone’s draft board. He’s a good college player who is just about out of time and won’t improve much more in the last weeks of his career.
The only starter who might become a significant presence is Derek Dixon.
That doesn’t mean UNC can’t win. They’ve won 24 games, which is not bad at all. It’s just that with Wilson, the role players weren’t asked to carry more than their share of the burden.
For Duke, Boozer was again superb. He finished with 26 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists, and shot 10-17/2-4. Sarr and Brown were both brilliant as well, and this time on both ends.
Brown finished with 15 points, 9 boards, and 5 steals. God knows how many deflections he racked up.
As for Sarr, he had 10 points, three rebounds, an assist and a steal. He really seemed to go up yet another level in this one, and you can see his offense starting to emerge, and nearly in real time. That guy is really hitting his stride.
Evans didn’t have his best game, but he kept his head in and hit some huge, backbreaking shots.
And while Cayden Foster had one significant error, driving the ball into the teeth of UNC’s interior defense on a fast break, and getting his one turnover for the game, in general, he came in and played very well for Foster. He’s really come a long way.
With the win, Duke finishes the regular season at 29-2 and conference play at 17-1. The Blue Devils are now 35-2 in the ACC over the last two seasons, and just finished up their second-straight undefeated season at home.
Notes – Nik Khamenia didn’t score, but played well in other ways, getting 3 steals and 2 blocks, and in general, defending well…UNC got 7 points and 5 rebounds from the bench…the Tar Heels shot 9-24 from behind the line and 5 of those were by Dixon, who hit 5-8…all Duke starters hit for double figures, other than Foster…
- LAST LAUGH: No. 1 Duke men’s basketball rolls past No. 17 North Carolina 76-61
- 5 observations from No. 1 Duke men’s basketball’s first half against No. 17 North Carolina
- Caleb Foster injury update, Jon Scheyer gives after guard goes down vs UNC
- UNC Stays Within Reach For A Half, But Duke Kicks Door Down In Regular Season Finale
- Maliq Brown’s career night lifts Duke basketball in win over UNC
- Duke’s second-half surge leads to 76-61 win over UNC
- Jarin Stevenson addresses UNC’s loss to Duke
