Saturday’s 20-point win was the perfect send-off for Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final game in Chapel Hill. Krzyzewski finished his unforgettable tenure as Duke’s head coach with a 17-19 record at the Dean Dome. The winning percentage isn’t mind-blowing but it’s respectable considering North Carolina had Dean Smith and Roy Williams as coaches. Not to mention Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Tyler Hansbrough, and other Tar Heels who’ve contributed to the rivalry.
A.J. Griffin had a season-high 27 points and went 3-6 on the three-pointers Griffin is the only Power Five player with a field goal percentage of more than 50 percent. Brady Manek defended him and also shouldered the burden of keeping Carolina in the game offensively. The Tar Heels lack roster depth so Manek played 35 minutes.
Carolina failed to convert early open looks and their offensive woes were exacerbated by Armando Bacot’s two unnecessary fouls just 185 seconds into the game. He returned from the bench five minutes later but Duke had built a 27-8 lead. Manek was 5-11 in the first half with 16 points. Duke’s lead was 39-28 at halftime.
The Blue Devils defense held steady with solid ball pressure. Early mistakes of leaving Tar Heel shooters open were fixed from the middle of the first half and onward. Griffin made three field goals to open the second half prior to Hubert Davis calling a timeout.
The main point of emphasis for improvement for the Devils was Paolo Banchero’s hesitancy to assert will over Leaky Black. ESPN analyst Jay Bilas suggested that Banchero take a more forceful approach as opposed to finessing his way onto the scoreboard. He scored 14 points and had 10 rebounds.
