Chapel Hill, NC: The Duke Blue Devils (28-3, 19-1 ACC) take care of a pesky UNC Tar Heel (20-12, 13-7 ACC) in a game of runs, 82-69. With the win, the Blue Devils secure the ACC Regular Season Championship outright over the Clemson Tigers and Louisville Cardinals. The Blue Devils will have the #1 seed in the upcoming ACC tournament and most likely have secured a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.
During a physical first half, the Blue Devils were able to extend their lead to 15 points at the 8 minute mark behind Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor’s stellar performance. Then the Heels senior leader RJ Davis caught fire and led a 21-7 run to end the half with 15 first half points that shrunk the Duke lead to 43-42 at the break. Notably, Cooper Flagg only played 9 minutes in the first half after committing 3 fouls, 2 on the offensive end.
The second half started how the first ended, with complete Tar Heel momentum. The Heels rode a 13-7 run and took a 7 point lead at the 15 minute mark of the second half. Then Cooper Flagg and the Blue Devils took over. The Devils ended the game on a 33-13 run In his first game back in a month, Maliq Brown played a pivotal role in the run draining 2 three pointers and an emphatic dunk tying his season high of 8 points. Brown also had 3 boards, 3 assists, and a plus/minus of 20.
After foul trouble in the first half, Flagg went fouless in the second and finished with 15 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks. In a week that saw Auburn and Johni Broome losing twice, Flagg continued to build his case for National Player of the Year. The Blue Devils were led by Kon Knueppel’s 17 points as Sion James and Tyrese Proctor added 16 points.
After a stellar first half, the Heels RJ Davis poured in 5 more points in the first 2 minutes of the second half. The Blue Devils then held him scoreless over the final 17:43 of the second half. Despite the drought, Davis led the Heels in scoring with 20 points in his final game in Dean E. Smith Center. The only other Tar Heel in double figures was Ven-Allen Lubin with 11 points.
The Tar Heels fell to the 5 seed in next week’s ACC tournament. They play the winner of the Notre Dame- Pittsburgh game on Tuesday. If they win, they will get a rematch with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. As of the ending of this game, the Tar Heels remain in the “Next Four Out” slot of Joe Lunardi’s bracket prediction. The Heels need another valuable win and will need to advance to the semi finals to face the Blue Devils for a third time this year.
The Blue Devils will play in the noon slot of the ACC quarterfinals Thursday afternoon against the winner of Georgia Tech and Virginia.
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