First-year guard Coby White got things started for the North Carolina men's basketball team at the Smith Center Saturday night with a step back 3-pointer on senior night.
Less than two minutes later, Duke's rotation took a blow as junior center Marques Bolden went down with a knee injury while attempting to block a shot by UNC forward Garrison Brooks. With first-year forward Zion Williamson still unable to play due to a sprained knee, losing Bolden further hurt No. 4 Duke's frontcourt depth.
With Bolden out of the game, No. 3 UNC quickly took an 8-4 lead after a free throw from Brooks and a fastbreak layup by Kenny Williams. Duke quickly responded with a layup from first-year guard Tre Jones and a jumper by RJ Barrett, who scored 33 points the last time the two teams played on Feb. 20, to tie the game at 8-8 early in the first half.
Out of the under-16 timeout, Duke and UNC traded blows. An 8-3 Blue Devil run was answered with a layup by White on a nifty move and a 3-pointer by first-year forward Nassir Little to tie the game at 16-16.
By the 10:21 mark, Little contributed four more points on a thunderous two-handed dunk and a layup to give himself seven points on the night and keep his team's deficit at 23-22.
After Little's layup, Williams converted his third layup of the night to give UNC its 14th point in the paint in just 10 minutes and take a 24-23 lead.
Duke responded with a 9-3 run capped by first-year Cam Reddish's 15th point of the night on a 3-pointer to give his team the 32-27 edge. Williams answered right back with his second straight 3-pointer to cut UNC's deficit to two.
On the next defensive possession, Williams made his presence known on the other end of the court by stepping up and taking a charge. Williams led the way on both ends of the court in the first half and finished with a team-high 12 points.
At the 1:57 mark in the first half, Williams drew his second charge of the night on Duke's Barrett to put the first-year on the bench with his third foul of the night. Less than 30 seconds later, Brooks tied the game at 36 with a layup, leading to a Duke timeout.
