Duke stumbled through the season and into ACC play with head coach Mike Krzyzewski juggling a lineup of injured players – highlighted with a one-game suspension of Allen after he tripped an Elon player on December 21. “I just came out there and tried to play free and had fun, just playing hard with the guys”.
Advertisement
After recapping the game, let’s dive into the numbers that helped ultimately determine the outcome in this one.
Krzyzewski suspended him for one game early in the season after he tripped an Elon opponent, a reprisal of his two infractions last season. If you’re like numerous Tar Heel fans who eagerly watched the entire game for it to only end in heartbreak or someone who was only able to catch the late-night highlights, we all end up in the same place after a Duke loss.
This team will go as far as the junior can take it. The Tar Heels have lost to Duke at least once in the regular season every year since 2008-09.
Tatum’s first basket was one he’ll never forget: With about 16 minutes left, he took the ball on the left wing and looked as if he was thinking about putting up a 3-pointer but reconsidered.
The loss for Carolina was its first with Theo Pinson in the lineup.
Allen finished the game with 25 points on 7 of 12 from beyond the arc.
Kennard has carried Duke to a certain extent this season, and he’s still arguably the best player on the Devils’ roster, but Tatum has the capability to carry the team to the next level. Holiday and freshman Lonzo Ball scored 15 points each for UCLA (22-3, 9-3 Pac-12). Not great, but decent. Still plenty of games left and a chance to win the ACC again. Henry Giles, a candidate to be the first pick in the National Basketball Association draft before injuries slowed him at the outset of the season, played only 10 minutes, but provided energy and scored six points. He missed the home wins over Tennessee and Davison – both of which were too close for comfort.
That might be reflected in the Tigers ranking second-to-last in the ACC in field-goal percentage (45.3) and 3-point percentage (35.7) despite having forward Jaron Blossomgame as the eighth-leading scorer in the conference at 17.8 per game. In fact, Berry scores 60 percent of the time on isos, per Synergy. Loyola Marymount (11-13, 4-9) was led by Steven Haney’s 12 points, all coming on his 4 three-pointers.
Allen has been hot recently, with averages of 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 5.0 three-pointers in his last four games. The Blue Devils have won two on the road and two at home.
Advertisement
They will play next against their state rival, North Carolina State on February 15, while the Blue Devils will play against the Clemson Tigers this Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
