No. 4 Duke Blue Devils were upset by their biggest rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels, 94-81, on Saturday. It was Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The day began with more than 90 former Duke Blue Devil players joining Krzyzewski on the court for a pregame photo. Coach K has 1,196 career victories and five NCAA Championships.
North Carolina came in ready to play both physically and emotionally. They got out to an 11 point lead in the early going before the Blue Devils could find themselves. Once Duke joined the party, it seemed like the victory would be theirs.
Duke took advantage of foul trouble by the Tar Heels center Armando Bacot, especially toward the end of the first half. They went on a 14-0 surge, to take a nine point lead, 37-28, with just under four minutes to go. UNC fought back, to make it a two point game at halftime, 41-39, with a buzzer-beating three by R.J. Davis.
Duke continued to flex their muscles to start the second half. Ultimately, the Blue Devils could not get enough contributions from their players other than Paolo Banchero.
UNC took over in the game’s final minutes, going on to outscore the Blue Devils 55-40 in the final 20 minutes of play. The Tar Heels led by two, with just over five minutes left, when they made their run. Davis was able to bypass Banchero for a driving layup. That was followed by Caleb Love penetrating to find Brady Manek for the basket, to take an eight point lead, 79-71, with 3:52 left in the second half. Manek also hit a clutch three-pointer, one of his five on the night, to answer Wendell Moore Jr., to keep the lead at eight and maintain momentum.
In the final moments, UNC stretched the lead to double figures, hitting clenching free throws and leaving the fans in shock that Krzyzewski’s final home game, after 42 seasons at Duke, would end in a loss.
Coach K’s all-time record vs. the Tar Heels falls to 50-47, though it’s not outside the realm of possibility the teams could meet up again in the ACC Tournament or the NCAA Tournament.
Coach Krzyzewski was particularly frustrated by his team’s performance on the defensive end of the court.
“They didn’t talk at all on defense,” he said. “That’s why the second half, our defense was just horrible.”
Bacot led the Tar Heels in scoring with 23 points on 10-11 shooting, seven rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Love contributed 22 points, five rebounds, five assists and one steal. Davis had 21 points, five rebounds, four assists, two steals and one block. Manek had a double-double, with 20 points and 11 boards. He also had three dimes, one steal and one rejection.
First year coach Hubert Davis had shrugged off the “pageantry” from Krzyzewski’s final home game, saying the team needed to tune out all the extra emotion and do one thing: compete.
“All week, we just talked about our competitive fight,” Davis said, “that we had to do three things: We had to plant our feet, we had to stand our ground and we had to fight. … I just felt like, as the game went on, we started to just gain more and more confidence.
Duke’s Banchero led the Blue Devils in scoring with a career-high 23 points. He also had five rebounds, and five assists. Mark Williams had a double-double, with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jeremy Roach scored 15 points. Trevor Keels added 12 points, three boards and two dimes.
North Carolina owns the No. 3 seed for the ACC Tournament in New York and open play in Thursday’s quarterfinals. Duke hold the No. 1 seed for the ACC Tournament and also open play Thursday.
