After 20 minutes of play, No. 4 Duke leads No. 15 North Carolina 49-42 in the 239th edition of the Tobacco Road rivalry.
The Blue Devils jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the opening four minutes thanks to some hot shooting on their end, as Duke knocked down seven of its first nine field goals to open the game. Quinn Cook had 15 first-half points, but he was not alone in securing the lead for Duke.
Freshman Justise Winslow led the charge in the early going, using his size advantage on J.P. Tokoto to convert on a stepback jumper after posting up and then driving past the junior to get the bucket. Classmate and point guard Tyus Jones found Winslow two possessions later on a lob to the rim which the Houston native converted easily.
But it was the sharp-shooting of the Blue Devils' lone senior that provided Duke with the double-digit cushion it enjoyed for much of the half.
Cook may have downplayed the storyline of tonight's game being his final against the Tar Heels at Cameron, but the senior captain's play has said otherwise. Cook has been nearly automatic from downtown, draining five 3-pointers and locking down Tar Heel playmaker Marcus Paige on defense.
North Carolina, however, would not stay quiet the entire half.
After trailing 23-13 with 13:08 following a Cook trey, the Tar Heels spent the next seven minutes chipping away at the Duke lead. Brice Johnson—one of North Carolina's athletic forwards—led the charge with 12 points and helped the Tar Heels whittle the lead down to six with 7:42 remaining in the half.
Duke once again got some breathing room, extending its lead to nine, but once again it was short-lived, as by the 4:54-mark a fast-break dunk by Tokoto and a 3-pointer from Paige had closed the gap to four.
With 3:33 remaining came one of the scariest scenes Duke has witnessed this season. After missing on a spin hook, Jahlil Okafor's left foot came on Joel James' foot and the Blue Devil big man fell to the floor. After spending several minutes on the court, Okafor was helped off and taken to the locker room.
But the Blue Devils did not let injury to their big man deter them. Tyus Jones and Cook led a 7-0 run, and with 45.0 seconds remaining in the half, Okafor re-entered the game to a standing ovation.
Observations from the first half
- Quinn Cook has always been a guard that is on the fringe of being named among the nation's elite. The senior acknowledged that playing against the highly-touted Marcus Paige was a challenge that he looked forward to. Cook was matched up against both Paige and Nate Britt II in the first half and got the best of both, outscoring the duo 15-9.
- In the past, Jahlil Okafor has struggled to stay out of foul trouble against some of the ACC's larger post threats, but the Chicago native has played composed tonight and enters the half with no fouls and six points and four boards.
- Tyus Jones has quietly been having another efficient performance, as the rookie point guard has eight points, six assists and four rebounds.
- The Tar Heel bigs have largely kept them in the game, as the North Carolina frontcourt has scored 33 of its total 42 points.
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