UNC men's basketball falls, 87-70, to No. 2 Duke

DURHAM — The UNC men's basketball team (13-10, 6-5 ACC) fell, 87-70, to the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (19-2, 11-0 ACC) in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday evening. 

Four Duke players reached double figures, led by first-years Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel who combined for 43 points. Duke's 22 point lead at halftime is the third largest halftime lead in rivalry history over the past 30 seasons. Although the Tar Heels had a 17-2 run in the dwindling minutes of the game, it wasn't enough to overcome the Blue Devils.

"We knew how good of a shooting team this team could be," junior guard Seth Trimble said. "I think them getting out in transition as much as they did may have surprised us a little bit more."

North Carolina couldn't find any rhythm in the first half.

In the opening five minutes, the Tar Heels experienced a two minute scoring drought. Although junior forward Jalen Washington ended the dry spell to push UNC within three points, the Blue Devils went on a 8-0 run in 55 seconds. Duke led 15-6 at the 14-minute media timeout. 

Coming out of the timeout, Duke pushed it to a 16-0 run over a three minute span led by an and-1 from Flagg and five points from Knueppel. By the 12 minute mark, the Tar Heels were down 23-8. 

Nothing seemed to be working for the Tar Heels as the first half continued.

"We just got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball," head coach Hubert Davis said. "But at the beginning of the game that was the one key that got us in the hole."

Following a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau at 10:47, UNC didn't find the basket again for the next five minutes. Duke kept extending the lead, capitalizing on the non-existent offense from UNC. First-year center Khaman Maluach, junior guard Tyrese Proctor and Flagg led the effort. 

With 4:54 remaining, the Blue Devils led 40-15.

In the dwindling minutes, the Tar Heels tried to ignite something. Graduate guard RJ Davis made a layup and graduate forward Jae'Lyn Withers followed with a three. Duke didn't score for almost three minutes, but the Blue Devils found their rhythm again. 

Flagg hit a buzzer beater jumper to end the first half and push Duke to a 47-25 lead. 

Knueppel opened the second half on a heater, slamming a dunk and making a 3-pointer within the first minute of play. For the first time all game, the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils traded baskets, but Knueppel started heating up once again.

After making a layup, Knueppel blitzed past Davis on the ensuing drive for an easy basket. Duke led 62-34 at the 15:34 mark. The Blue Devils success continued from there. 

"They challenged capitalized off our mistakes a lot," junior forward Jalen Washington said. 

The Tar Heels managed a 7-0 run at the 6:57 mark, with a three from first-year forward Drake Powell capping it off. Following two made free throws from Flagg, the Tar Heels worked to make the deficit smaller, scoring 11 points over three minutes while holding Duke to zero. 

With 3:31 remaining, Duke led by 17 points.

Despite the effort from the Tar Heels, it wasn't enough to challenge the Blue Devils, who didn't make a field goal in a seven minute period throughout the last minutes of the second half. 

The Tar Heels could never find anything that was enough.

After a week long break, the Tar Heels will return to the Dean E. Smith Center to take on Pitt at 4 p.m. on Saturday.

@_emmahmoon

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com

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