After jumping out to a 12-point lead with just over six minutes left in the first, Duke ceded a run to North Carolina and entered the break up just four. The Tar Heels' momentum carried into the second half, however, and after building a 10-point lead halfway through the second, they never looked back and won 82-78. The Blue Zone gives three takeaways and stats from the game and looks forward for the Blue Devils:
Three key takeaways
1. Still no defense
Another opponent, another poor defensive performance.
After being torched for 81 by St. John’s, Duke's defense struggled once again. The Blue Devils forced just two turnovers as they moved back and forth between man and zone defense—and neither worked. Although the Tar Heels shot just 33.3 percent from deep, Kenny Williams and Cameron Johnson lit up the nets combining to connect on 10 of 20 attempts. The defense is now allowing a full point per possession in Ken Pomeroy’s statistics, good for 79th in the country.
2. Inconsistent shooting
In the second half, Duke shot just 4-of-14 from deep after shooting at a 55.6 percent clip in the first half. With North Carolina hitting clutch deep balls from NBA range multiple times, the Blue Devils simply could not keep up.
Three-point shooting has been a problem throughout this season and has been exacerbated by Grayson Allen’s struggles. Right now, the only legitimate shooter on the team is Gary Trent Jr.—and sometimes Wendell Carter Jr. The team may have to look to Alex O’Connell for more help on the perimeter if their struggles continue.
3. Sloppy play down the stretch
After come-from-behind victories to start the season, many lauded the young team’s ability to come up clutch during crunch time. But recent losses have started to raise some questions about the team’s cohesion when things get tough.
Down six with 3:12 to go, Allen took a poor contested three-pointer just 14 seconds into the shot-clock. Then, down eight, Marvin Bagley III tried to do it by himself and ultimately missed the jumper. The nail in the coffin came with 23 seconds left when none other than Duke’s most experienced player, Allen, threw away the ball after running the baseline.
Three key stats
1. Blue Devils outrebounded
The Tar Heels pulled down 20 offensive rebounds—earning them12 second-chance points—leading to a win in the rebound battle 44-38.
2. Foul trouble
Typically, the Blue Devils bigs have found themselves in foul trouble. This time, the starting guards combined for 13 fouls, with Duval fouling out with over three minutes left in the game. The lack of fundamentals on defense combined with foul trouble is a recipe for disaster.
3. Duke’s bench outscores North Carolina’s:
The one bright spot of the game for the Blue Devils was completely unexpected. Duke has a notoriously thin bench—head coach Mike Krzyzewski rarely goes to the bench, especially in big games. But carried by led by Marques Bolden and O’Connell, the Blue Devil bench had 19 points compared to Carolina’s four.
Looking forward:
Duke’s inconsistency has continued to be a problem and it is hard to fathom at this point how this team can make a run into April. Although the offense always has the potential to cover up the defensive woes, when it is not clicking at full force, there is very little the Blue Devils can do to win without a capable defense behind them.
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