Lucas: Duke Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Not a great performance in Durham in one of the uglier Carolina-Duke games you'll see, as Duke prevails, 63-57.

2. Carolina took 27 three-point shots and made just seven of them, a 25.9 percent success rate. Armando Bacot's 12 shots were just the third-most on the team and he did not take a shot in the final 12 minutes of the game. Duke freshman Dereck Lively had eight blocks in a physical game that was consistently called very loosely from start to finish and Lively impacted Carolina's ability to utilize Bacot.

3. The constant point of emphasis at practice the last two days has been keeping Duke off the offensive glass. But the Devils continually got second chances in key spots, including their final two field goals coming off offensive rebounds. Duke, one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, scored 11 second chance points.

4. Carolina is having trouble getting any transition offense going. The Tar Heels were outscored 20-2 in fast break points. That's fine if you're converting in the halfcourt, but offense simply wasn't coming very easily. UNC shot 34.3 percent from the field in the game. Carolina has now held eight straight opponents under 70 points, but has won just five of those eight. You can obviously see the perimeter struggles, but the Heels were just 17-for-43 on two-point shots (39.5 percent).

5. Sometimes this year, bad field goal shooting has been countered by success at the free throw line. Not tonight. Carolina did not attempt a free throw in the second half and took just three in the game. It really didn't feel like the officiating was unbalanced in terms of what was being called as much as it was just a very, very loose whistle; Duke hit 11-of-15 at the line. The Tar Heels took 70 field goals but that turned into just three free throws. It felt from court level like the Heels didn't get a couple foul calls early and weren't quite as aggressive going hard to the rim after that. It is, however, hard to imagine that you could play an entire half of a Carolina-Duke basketball game and never attempt a free throw. Part of the problem was that over half Carolina's shots in that period (19 of the 35 attempts) were three-pointers.

6. One of the biggest plays of the game was a substitution that wasn't made. In a two-point game with under a minute to play, the Tar Heels tried to sub Puff Johnson for RJ Davis, who had four fouls. But the substitution came after the horn and was not allowed by the officials. Duke immediately attacked Davis, who had to let Jeremy Roach have a layup rather than fouling out of the game. That layup gave Duke a 61-57 lead.

7. Carolina was outrebounded, 46-40, by Duke. Leaky Black had ten, as did Armando Bacot. Duke outscored Carolina in the paint, 32-24, and outmuscled Carolina in a rather unexpected consistent fashion.

8. Black also had 13 points and hit three three-pointers. Yes, he missed a big one near the end, but if you take him out of the equation, the rest of the Tar Heels made just four-for-21 from the three-point line.

9. Two players who are going to wish they'd had better nights: Pete Nance was 1-for-10 from the field and 0-for-5 from the three-point line. And Caleb Love, who traditionally has been excellent against Duke, was 5-for-15 and was not effective down the stretch.

10. No matter the outcome of the game, there's just something satisfying about playing beneath that 2022 Final Four banner in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Hopefully it brings back fond memories of New Orleans to everyone who gazes up at it. It certainly did for me.

11. As usual, the Carolina-Duke game brought out some unique attendees. Cole Anthony's Orlando Magic are in Charlotte tomorrow, so he made the trip up to Durham for the game. Anthony played one game at Cameron as a Tar Heel, an 89-76 loss in 2020. Anthony had nine points in 39 minutes in that game. Two very accomplished quarterbacks, Sam Howell and Drake Maye, were also behind the UNC bench.

12. Things don't get any easier now. Riding a two-game losing streak, the Tar Heels go to Winston-Salem on Tuesday night to face a good Wake Forest team. It's yet another game between two teams close in the league standings; Carolina is now 7-5 while Wake is 7-6. The Tar Heels need a two-win week next week against Wake and Clemson.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Puff Johnson

Caleb Love

Pete Nance

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