Duke and North Carolina entered their first meeting of the season as a pair of teams headed in opposite directions. Duke had won five games in a row, while the Tar Heels had lost three of their last four. The two teams came together for a moment of silence in honor of Dean Smith before the tip, but once things started for real, all of the best aspects of this rivalry came to fruition on the court.
North Carolina vs. Duke final score: 3 things we learned from the Blue Devils’ incredible overtime win
The Blue Devils stormed back to force overtime and come away with a victory.
Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
The first half was back and fourth, but an ankle injury sustained by Duke's star freshman Jahlil Okafor about four minutes before the halftime buzzer seemed to change the tide. North Carolina surged ahead before an 11-2 Duke run in the final minutes keyed by point guard Tyus Jones sent the game to overtime.
Duke had all the momentum going into the extra session. Okafor made established himself with two buckets and Quinn Cook made a tough layup to lift Duke to a 92-90 overtime win.
For most of the second half, Carolina was getting whatever it wanted inside. Kennedy Meeks went 8-of-10 from the field to score 18 points, while Brice Johnson finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. Carolina's perimeter defense fell apart late, though, and it was enough for Duke to storm back.
All five Duke starters finished in double-figures, led by 22 points each from Jones and Cook. Even on a bum ankle, Okafor made some clutch baskets and finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Here’s what we learned in Duke’s win:
1. Tyus Jones is incredible
We’ve seen Jones have big games before. The freshman hung 22 points on Wisconsin in what was Duke’s defining win up to this point. For as good as he was against the Badgers, you can make the case that this was the best Jones has played all season. He seemed to erase Duke’s second half deficit by himself, scoring the Blue Devils’ final nine points of regulation to force overtime.
Jones’ poise late in the game stretched beyond his years. Duke wouldn’t have had a chance to win this game without him.
2. North Carolina is pretty good when it doesn’t rely on threes
We’ve seen Duke go to a zone at times this season, but it curiously decided not to do it against UNC on Wednesday. North Carolina’s biggest weakness is its three-point shooting, but the Blue Devils never forced the Heels to shoot from deep. Instead, UNC was pounding the ball inside, and it was enough to break the game open in the second half.
It looked like it would be enough for a victory, but then the defense fell apart, Jones took over and UNC was able to get a victory.
3. This was one of the best games of the season
Duke-North Carolina gets so much publicity that it’s natural to react the other way. On this night, though, it’s hard to imagine a better advertisement for the sport than Duke vs. UNC. From the Dean Smith tribute to Duke’s big comeback to a wild atmosphere all night, this game showed that college basketball can still be an electrifying sport.
See More:
