UNC Basketball: Brice Johnson’s biggest moments as a Tar Heel

Johnson’s Big Game Against Duke

In his final game against Duke at the Smith Center, the senior forward Johnson wanted to beat the Blue Devils more than anything. So did fellow senior Marcus Paige. So did the 21,750 Carolina faithful packed into the arena.

But that’s not how it went down.

For a half, it appeared as though the Tar Heels were in complete control. Johnson was scoring and rebounding at will. He was dominating the Blue Devils on both ends of the court. At the intermission, Johnson was sitting on 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The problem is that Johnson was limited to just two shot attempts in the final 13 minutes of the game. Coach Mike Krzyzewski made adjustments at halftime and the Heels struggled to counter, limiting the ability of Johnson to affect the game’s outcome.

The Tar Heels back court struggled mightily in this one, hitting just one of their 13 shot attempts from three-point range. With their inability to hit from long range, Duke was able to change their game plan and limit Johnson’s dominance in the paint in the second half.

With a furious comeback in the closing minutes, Duke took the lead and the victory. Little can be blamed on Johnson though, whose final stat line of the night read 29 points, 19 rebounds and two assists.