In the regular-season finale against No. 17 Duke, the No. 5 Tar Heels won 90-83 in a back-and-forth thriller.
Advertisement
Against any other team, No. 5 North Carolina-having already locked in the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament-might have had trouble finding proper motivation for Saturday’s regular-season finale. Hicks finished with 21 points and Jackson added 15 for North Carolina (26-6, 14-4 ACC) Luke Kennard’s 28 points led Duke. Kennard leads the team with an average of 19.8 points per game while Jefferson leads the team with 8.6 rebounds per game and Grayson Allen leads the team in assists with 3.7 assists per game this season.
Before the game started, UNC fans were full of excitement.
With just under five left in the period, Duke took a healthy 38-29 lead when Brown joined the three-pointer party. Justin Jackson hit a three and then assisted on two straight shots and about a minute later UNC led 79-73.
Things often get heated during contests between the Blue Devils and Tar Heels, and that was the case in the closing minutes of the first half, courtesy of Allen. Duke is playing for the double bye, but they’re also playing for longevity, which should make for a lot of different rotations (and plenty more of Frank Jackson).
Williams consistently talks balance, and on Saturday night, the Tar Heels had it. Knocking down six 3-pointers opened up the floor for 44 points in the paint. It’s risky to really examine such a sequence of words but what I think Jordan meant was that the the North Carolina football program will soar as high as it wants to.
Mangok Mathiang came off the bench to score a career-best 18 points and grab 11 rebounds in his home finale.
Isaiah Hicks, who missed the first game with a hamstring injury also made his presence felt early, as he scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting (2-2 from the line).
One of the keys to Duke’s victory was the containment of Syracuse’s Alexis Peterson, who was named the ACC Player of the Year. She would lead the team at the end of the first with eight points.
Allen was called for a technical foul in the first half for elbowing UNC freshman Brandon Robinson on a drive to the basket. State on Wednesday, and if it wins, it draws Louisville.
Carrboro police arrested a man attempting to sell fake tickets to Saturday night’s Duke-UNC men’s basketball game, according to WTVD.
Advertisement
One team has secured the number one ACC Tournament seed.
