DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Duke’s freshmen delivered.
The rivalry that always does? Not so much.
The buzz from the latest renewal of the famed Duke-North Carolina series fizzled quickly Saturday, lost amid the second-ranked Blue Devils’ dominance that drained drama and doubt about the outcome well before halftime. By the end, Duke had an 87-70 win that highlighted both the Blue Devils’ elite potential and the Tar Heels’ troubling trajectory when it comes to their NCAA Tournament chances.
“I think it just shows when we come locked in and ready, and we stick to our game plan, what we can do,” Duke star freshman Cooper Flagg said.
The stars were the 6-foot-9 Flagg — long mentioned as a potential No. 1 overall NBA draft pick long before leaving his home state of Maine — and fellow rookie Kon Knueppel, both of whom settled in quickly in their first taste of the rivalry. Knueppel finished with a game-high 22 points, while Flagg stacked a line of 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks.
They showed little sign of anxiousness or nerves in their rivalry debut. Then again, this one was all but over not long after the ball went up for the opening tip with the packed-to-the-rafters Cameron Indoor Stadium at its loudest.
“They whupped us, they kicked us — straight and back, right from the jump,” UNC guard Seth Trimble said bluntly.
Duke (19-2, 11-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) took control with a 16-0 run in the first seven minutes, followed minutes later with an 11-0 burst that pushed the lead to 40-13. The Blue Devils led by 32 points midway through the second half.
With that, gone was any chance of adding another memorable moment to the rivalry’s lore on par with, say, Austin Rivers’ buzzer-beating winner for Duke in Chapel Hill in 2012. Or what had become a growing new chapter in the past five years with the coaching transitions from Hall of Famers Mike Krzyzewski at Duke and Roy Williams at UNC.
It was in 2022 that first-year coach Hubert Davis’ Tar Heels regrouped from a 20-point loss in the first meeting to stun the Blue Devils in Krzyzewski’s Cameron farewell. And a month later came an even more improbable outcome: the Tar Heels beating the Blue Devils in the Final Four in the first-ever March Madness meeting between the bluebloods with a combined 11 NCAA titles to end Coach K’s career.
The Blue Devils swept UNC in Jon Scheyer’s first year as Krzyzewski’s successor in 2023, then the Tar Heels returned the favor last year — notable for Cormac Ryan dropping 31 points while yapping, screaming and repeatedly shushing the hostile Cameron crowd.
No such luck this time for anyone eager to catch a close game in the national TV spotlight. Instead, the first half was awash in Duke’s ruthless offensive efficiency (nearly 1.5 points per possession) and defensive versatility that had them switching and forcing the smaller-at-every-position Tar Heels to start their offense well outside the arc.
“I just think the nature of this game, it’s exciting — there’s anticipation, you know there’s going to be a great crowd, so you can feel happy,” said Scheyer, himself a veteran of eight of these games as a Blue Devils player. “Really the team that has an edge has really won this game.
“That’s something we just kept talking about: our edge, our focus. And these guys had it.”
It showed in multiple ways. Flagg firing on-point passes out of double teams to set up open teammates. Knueppel hitting 3s and attacking the paint. Junior Tyrese Proctor (17 points) breaking out of a 3-for-18 shooting slump in the past two games. Duke tallying 23 deflections for what Scheyer said was a season-high effort.
“It feels awesome to get a big-time win like this and do it at home in front of the fans,” said Knueppel, a Milwaukee native who crammed for his first Duke-UNC exam by reading a book on the rivalry sent by a friend of his brother.
There were few good vibes for the Tar Heels (13-10, 6-5) after this one. The final seven minutes amounted to little more than shaving down a losing margin, done in by a first half that saw them have more turnovers (nine) than field goals (eight).
A team that started the year ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25 poll has now lost four of five, with the only win coming in overtime against a Boston College team that entered Saturday with one league win. And the chances to secure a needle-moving win on their NCAA resume are getting fewer after the ACC’s woeful nonconference showing.
All the Tar Heels can do is keep fighting, a small step toward what they hope is a more compelling Round 2 in Chapel Hill on March 8.
“Yes we’re discouraged, but we’re going to move forward,” Davis said. “We’re going to get back up, move forward and continue to get better, and try to become the team that I think we all know we can be.”
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