Marquis Godwin scored 12 on 4-of-5 shooting on 3s for ODU (18-5, 9-2 C-USA), which knocked down 12 of 25 from long distance. Duke couldn’t score on its next possession, while North Carolina responded with a triple. UNC is putting up 82.8 points per game on offense while allowing 72.8 per contest. Let’s take a deeper look into the why, shall we? This year, however, the script has been flipped, as the Blue Devils have focused on pounding the ball inside, while the Tar Heels have a comparative advantage in perimeter play.
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Speaking of 20,000 fans, there’s a decent chance with so many people at the game that at least a few may be sick.
That is the epitome of small-ball, which has been the bread-and-butter for the Blue Devils since Coach K fully-embraced the one-and-done roster construct.
Kenny Williams might, too.
In the first game against State, a 95-91 overtime loss for the Tar Heels, the Wolfpack scored more points, even in regulation (83), than any other team on UNC’s schedule.
Johnson and Williams are the bellwethers, though. Normally, when these two legendary college basketball programs play twice a year and potentially again in the ACC Tournament, it warrants must-see TV. Williams and Johnson rank eighth and 14th, respectively, in efficiency on spot-ups.
He leads them in scoring (18.3) and rebounding (10.3) while ranking among the national leaders with 12 double-doubles.
UNC held Duke to 29 points in the second half and limited the Blue Devils to 36 percent shooting.
And that’s what they were planning on doing to UNC, but it didn’t work.
North Carolina enters the game with a 17-7 record and is 6-5 in the ACC.
North Carolina’s transition attack has certainly had its ups and downs this season; losing a dynamic wing like Justin Jackson certainly didn’t help that cause. “They could match it, but we had already been riding the wave and our crowd was into it, we were feeding off the crowd and it’s hard to come back from that”. That’s simply not in Roy Williams’ basketball DNA. “All of a sudden that can lead not only to a poor offensive possession but poor defense and transition”. Following the departure of (ACC Player of the Year) Justin Jackson, Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks, and Tony Bradley, Carolina was left with a bare cupboard on the interior.
Ninth-ranked Duke has followed Saturday’s stunning loss to St. John’s by dropping a game against its arch-rival.
The teams split the previous 100 meetings, though North Carolina’s series lead is now 136-110.
This one is a little more obvious: North Carolina was outstanding on the glass.
UNC takes the lead within the first five minutes of the second half with a huge 14 -2 run making it 61 -53 UNC.
As a team against Virginia Tech, the Pack launched 31 3-pointers, connecting on 10 of them as the Hokies managed to make the Pack settle for outside jumpshots more often than not.
Bagley himself had another strong night, notching a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds, but was limited offensively by impressive fronting from 6-foot-6 stretch forward Theo Pinson.
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“Maye can bring it down the court, he can be in the post and in the same exchange, go out to the 3-point line”, Krzyzewski said Wednesday.
