UNC Basketball: Tar Heels dominate Blue Devils on Senior Night

The only thing that went wrong for the UNC Basketball program on Saturday night was losing the opening tipoff. After that point, the Tar Heels flat out dominated the Duke Blue Devils on senior night winning 91-73 and sweeping the regular season series between the two programs for the second time in three years.

UNC jumped out to a big lead early on with Roy Williams going to his senior lineup plus Leaky Black to start the game. On UNC’s first possession, they had a scare as senior Garrison Brooks came down awkwardly on Matthew Hurt’s foot, forcing him to go back to the locker room for a few minutes.

But it didn’t stop UNC from opening up a lead and never looking back.

The Tar Heels lead by double-digits for most of the first half backed by strong performances by Brooks who finished the game with 14 points and sophomore Armando Bacot who finished with 18 points.

Duke simply had no answer for the Tar Heels in the paint as UNC assisted on 8 of their first 9 made baskets in the game. UNC would finish the game with 21 assists and moved the ball well against that Duke zone.

With Duke going to that 2-3 zone in the second, UNC often found themselves with open shots on the perimeter and they took advantage.

After the big first half, UNC took a 42-26 lead at the break, their biggest halftime lead over the Blue Devils since 2012. In the second half, it was much of the same. UNC outscored Duke 49-47 in the second half as well, opening up the lead out to as much as 20 at one point in the game.

Just like the first half, UNC got some balanced scoring in the second half including a few big threes by freshmen Kerwin Walton and Caleb Love. Walton finished the game with 18 points on 6 of 9 shooting including 4 of 7 from the three point line.

Love followed up his 24-point performance in the first meeting with Duke with 18 on Saturday night, shooting 50 percent from the field.

The Tar Heels shot 55 percent from the field including 44 percent from the three-point line and out-rebounded Duke 38-31.

To put it simple, Duke never led in this game and never got the lead under 10 in the second half as it was all Carolina. The win moves UNC to the No. 6 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and could help improve their NCAA Tournament chances as well. For Duke? Well, that should have put the nail in the coffin for their tournament chances unless they make a run in the ACC Tournament and win it all.

One thing we should note, is that redshirt junior Sterling Manley entered the game with just over a minute left, marking the first time in over a year he’s appeared in a game. He scored 2 points and recorded a block at the end.

For more on the UNC Basketball program, please check back with Keeping It Heel.