Tar Heel Nation, get a dad gum grip! The better team won.
It wasn’t the first time Carolina was blown out by a stronger opponent playing better. Remember Roy Williams’ last game, his first-ever loss in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, when he got torched by Wisconsin.
As discussed last week, Duke was a bad match-up at every position. Not only five first-round draft picks versus none for UNC, but each of its starters outplayed every one of ours. The Blue Devils made their first three shots and 8 of their first 9; the Heels opened 1-for-7, some of them good looks and, despite a late first-half run, the deficit eventually ballooned to 28.
That perfect storm for Duke turned into a tsunami when unranked Carolina couldn’t contain its eighth-ranked rival, which shot 58 percent. The one match-up the home team was depending on lasted less than four minutes as Armando Bacot picked up two quick fouls, one when he was pump-faked into the air by Duke 7-footer Mark Williams and the second when AB pushed Paolo Banchero after being badly beaten on the baseline. Both wasted fouls.
The Tar Heels needed two of Leaky Black, who shut down Banchero for most of the first half, while fellow frosh A.J. Griffin went off for 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting before personally authoring Duke’s 10-0 run to start the second half.
Dawson Garcia might have helped out Black and spelled the gallant-but-gassed Brady Manek, and Anthony Harris could have taken some pressure off Caleb Love and R.J. Davis, who shot 7-for-21 from the floor. The athletic Devils switched on almost all screens, making it even harder for Carolina to score.
Duke is among the eight teams most likely to win the national championship. Perhaps so sure of delivering UNC’s first loss at home, Mickie Krzyzewski made a rare appearance in Chapel Hill to be there for Coach K’s last visit. Would she have come if her husband had any doubt?
This wasn’t the worst loss Carolina took from Duke at home in Krzyzewski’s 42 years of the rivalry. That came in the disastrous 2002 season when UNC lost by 29 points and Coach K called off the dogs midway through the second half. He had to admonish his players for laughing at just how bad those 8-20 Tar Heels were, as Duke fans crowed with glee.
Two years later, Roy Williams had the program back on track and before Saturday night the rivalry was tied 50-50 over the last 100 meetings.
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a photo gallery of the game, click here.
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Art is right, Tar Heel fans! Losing by 20 to a better Duke team is okay. So is losing by 20 to Tennessee, Kentucky, Miami, and Wake Forest (which has less students than UNC has people in its athletic department). And of course losing by less than 20 to Purdue and Notre Dame should be considered wins! I love it when a good plan comes together!!!!