No. 3 Duke began the game on a 14-0 run and never looked back, routing North Carolina 69-63 at the Dean Dome in Chapel Hill.
Here's your postgame recap:
Revisiting the three keys to the game:
- Dealing with North Carolina's small lineup: Duke defended the UNC wing players spectacularly. Only one of the fourwings ended up in double figures—P.J. Hairston with 14. Hairston, Strickland, Bullock and Paige went a combined 11-of-35 from the floor. Bullock finished with just eight points and didn't score until the second half.
- Ryan Kelly's fatigue: Kelly played 28 minutes and scored just eight points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field. He hit all four of his free throw attempts, adding three rebounds and three assists though he turned it over three times. He didn't look visibly fatigued and played good defense on Hairston and Bullock.
- Which Rasheed Sulaimon will show up: 'Sheed began the game on the bench and played just 15 minutes, his lowest total all season. He was 0-for-2 from the field, both 3-pointers. That comes after playing 17 minutes in the game against Virginia Tech. Tyler Thornton started in his place and made a number of key plays. The question: is this a permanent change or just something to try and motivate the freshman?
Three key plays:
- 19:41, first half: Plumlee made a hook shot, putting Duke up 2-0, keying a 14-0 run to start the game for the Blue Devils. UNC only got within single digits once the rest of the game.
- 11:46, first half: Curry hit his most acrobatic shot shot from his buttocks, part of his 7-for-7 start to the game. He finished the game with 20 points, 18 of which game in the first 20 minutes of play.
- 19:08, second half: Plumlee began the second half on a tear, taking over the game in a way Curry did in the first period. He scored Duke's first 10 points of the second half.
Three key stats:
- 31-27 rebounds. After the Tar Heels dominated Duke on the boards in this one, Duke didn't allow that to be the case tonight. Plumlee grabbed 13 rebounds while keeping James Michael McAdoo to just three.
- North Carolina 1-of-14 3-pointers. The Tar Heels couldn't buy a bucket from deep, hitting just 1-of-14. P.J. Hairston was the only one to connect from deep, going 1-for-6. Reggie Bullock was the coldest, going 1-of-4.
- Duke 27-of-49 FG. The Blue Devils finished making 55.1% of their shots from the field while North Carolina went just 21-of-62, 33.9% from the field.
And the Duke game ball goes to … Mason Plumlee: Curry was the star of the first half but Plumlee kept it alive for Duke in the second half with a game-high 23 points. And a lot has been made of Plumlee not being the same player he was in non-conference play... he looked like a National Player of the Year candidate tonight.
And the North Carolina game ball goes to … James Michael McAdoo: The sophomore forward led UNC with 15 points and scored the first seven points of the game for the Tar Heels. Nobody else on the UNC hit a field goal until 10:46 in the second half.
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