Standing at a svelte 6-foot-10 and 210 pounds, North Carolina forward John Henson does not possess the burly physique of fellow ACC big men such as Miami’s Reggie Johnson, N.C. State’s Tracy Smith and Maryland’s Jordan Williams.
But Henson had no need for bulk in the first half of Wednesday’s rivalry game, playing with much more strength than his trim frame would suggest.
The sophomore dominated the paint with frontcourt mate Tyler Zeller in the opening 20 minutes, helping the Tar Heels jump out to an early lead that they maintained until midway through the second half. Only after the Blue Devils found a way to contain North Carolina’s threat down low were they able to turn the tide of the contest and pull out a comeback victory.
Duke, however, could not contain Henson and Zeller in the game’s early stages. They accounted for 16 of the Tar Heels’ first 25 points, scoring easily against the Plumlee brothers and Ryan Kelly with a variety of layups, tip-ins and short jumpers. Point guard Kendall Marshall’s court vision in transition helped set up many of the duo’s easy baskets, as the Blue Devils were caught off-guard by the freshman’s precise passes in addition to Henson and Zeller’s quickness on the break.
“Their bigs run so well,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I think Henson’s as good a big guy as there is in the country. That kid is so unique and talented.... I don’t think there’s a more unique guy than him, and Zeller gives them that steadiness inside.”
Starting at the 16:47 mark of the first half, the pair of big men scored 14 consecutive points for the Tar Heels in a span of around three and a half minutes. Henson began the stretch with a tough leaner that just rolled over the rim and down into the cylinder. Zeller took over from there, putting in two easy layups—the direct result of Marshall’s deep penetration into the lane—and nailing a midrange jump shot after Nolan Smith had cut North Carolina’s lead to two points.
Henson and Zeller came close to matching the first-half scoring and rebounding output of the entire Duke squad, posting a combined 23 points and 15 boards on accurate 10-for-15 shooting.
Yet, Henson’s tepid play coming out of halftime signalled a drastic shift in the Blue Devils’ resolve on the defensive end of the floor. The sophomore turned the ball over on the Tar Heels’ first possession of the second period, losing the ball out of bounds while backing down Kelly in the post. Henson’s next touch resulted in a traveling violation as he attempted to establish position down low.
“We went into halftime and looked at the statistics, and that’s got to be a motivator—they were dominating us,” Kelly said. “That’s part of the game, you have to be able to flush something, flush the first half. We played really hard the second half, and our bigs weren’t necessarily putting the ball in the basket, but defensively and with rebounding they did a really good job.”
Not only did Duke tighten up its defense both in the post and on the perimeter, but the Blue Devils asserted themselves on the offensive glass as well, creating second chances that led to open shots for the hot hands of Smith and Seth Curry.
Duke collected six offensive rebounds within five minutes at the start of the second half, while North Carolina failed to grab a single one over the same time period. Those boards led to 11 points and enabled the Blue Devils to narrow their 14-point halftime deficit, climbing back within six points of the Tar Heels with 14:54 remaining in the game.
The sharpshooting of Smith and Curry also prevented North Carolina from pushing the tempo in transition as it had done successfully for the first 20 minutes of play.
“They didn’t get the fast breaks in the second half that they got in the first half, and part of it is because our shots were better and our shots were going in,” Krzyzewski said.
Duke’s big men held Henson to four second-half points but still struggled to limit Zeller’s scoring: The 7-footer finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. The Blue Devils, however, overcame Zeller’s output with the production of Smith—the same way they withstood stellar post performances from Miami’s Johnson and Maryland’s Williams in victories over the Hurricanes at home and the Terrapins on the road earlier this season.
And Smith was more than willing to carry the team when Duke needed a spark.
“The second-half adjustment I made was just to be aggressive,” Smith said. “When I started doing that, then things opened up a lot easier for me to either penetrate or hit an open three. I just wanted to... do whatever it took not to let us lose.”
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