Duke Vs UNC 2/9/17: Post-game
Cameron Indoor Stadium- Even though all of Duke's 9,314 fans did their part tonight, it was Duke's 3 headed monster of Kennard, Allen, and Tatum that led the way as the Blue Devils edged out arch nemesis UNC, 86-78 in a nail biter.
In a game that was close throughout its entirety, it came down to one big play that allowed the Blue Devils to put the nail in the coffin. With roughly 1:30 seconds left, fans could clearly see Coach K passionately conducting his team like an orchestra, trying to get a play to develop. Whether it was the play or not, Grayson Allen's 3 ball with 1:16 seconds left ultimately allowed Duke to prevail and win a huge game in their quest to March.
In a first half that featured 4 ties and 10 lead changes, there was no shortage of excitement as Duke was only up by one at half.
Duke relied heavily on their 3 ball in the first half going 6-15 from deep, but Carolina had their way in the paint as they answered with lay-ups and jams of their own. A big problem for Carolina was their inability to match up defensively with Duke's quick perimeter players, and Duke exploited it. Grayson Allen was hitting all sorts of 3's and was scoring at will. Luke Kennard's play in the paint was spectacular. He looked tiny against UNC's big men, but kept finding ways to score in the interior. Justin Jackson had a great first half as well going 6-8 from the field and tallying 14 points. A big takeaway from the first half was that Duke and UNC were tied with 14 rebounds which came as a surprise to most. Kennedy Meeks did not record his first rebound until the second half which seriously hurt UNC.
Keys from the first half: Matt Jones had to carry his spectacular first half defense over to the second half. He is one of the best in the ACC at getting steals and it looked like it early tonight. Carolina could beat Duke in the up and down game but they needed to be more disciplined in their half court defense. Grayson Allen also needed to stay hot. Jayson Tatum needed to start being productive in the second half for Duke, and UNC's big men needed to be more active scorers.
The Blue Devils started the second half with an electric 8-0 run that featured Grayson Allen's fifth 3 of the night.
Soon enough though, Carolina started crawling back in it, as Meeks answered with a big And 1 finish. There was only one way for Duke to respond to that. Jayson Tatum had to pump fake, knife through the lane, and then throw down a vicious dunk all over Kennedy Meeks. The dunk will be talked about for years to come and will be another play to add to the history books.
With 11:07 left, UNC went on an 8-0 run that was abruptly cut short by a Grayson Allen 3 pointer which was caught and shot faster than the speed of light. Allen kept his composure and kept his body language under control which made a huge difference for his coaches and his teammates.
The game was tied 70-70 with 6:57 seconds to go until North Carolina connected on the front end of two free throws. Not much longer after that, Luke Kennard kissed a beautiful lay-up off the top of the glass. When Duke seized a 72-71 lead, they never looked back.
Grayson Allen's 25 points, which included a plethora of 3 pointers, Luke Kennard's paint play, Tatum's 19 points in the second half, and UNC's bad free throw shooting down the stretch propelled Duke to victory in a marquee matchup.
The question still looms over all Duke fans.
Is Duke back?
