UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Duke 93-84 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Imposes Its Will on the Duke Blue Devils and Cruises to Victory
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team and Duke faced off in another matchup on Saturday night in what is regarded as the best rivalry in college sports. Both teams came into this game ranked in the top 10 and were looking to make a statement early in this game. The Tar Heels came out and played with a lot of intensity on both ends of the floor. Defensively UNC was flying around making impact plays and pushing the ball in transition every chance they got. The Heels had 12 fast break points and 10 points off turnovers in the first half alone. Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram were tremendous in the first half, and both scored in double figures as Carolina went into halftime with a 10-point lead.
In the second half, North Carolina continued to push the pace offensively and put constant pressure on Duke’s defense every time down the floor with the different ways they could score the ball. The Tar Heels led by as much as 15 in the second half and were in total control of the game. Armando Bacot and Harrison Ingram had outstanding games, and both finished the game with 20-point double-doubles leading the way for Carolina.
UNC was also dominant in the paint and outscored the Blue Devils 54-36 as the Heels took full advantage of their size and length inside. As good as the Tar Heels played, Duke was able to hang around because of free throws and some tough shot-making from Kyle Filipowski, Jared McCain, and Jeremy Roach, who all had 20 points. However, it wasn’t enough to keep up with the Heels, who led the game from start to finish. Carolina played exceptionally well offensively all game long shooting 50% from the field and answering every run Duke tried to make with some timely stops and baskets. North Carolina was locked in from tipoff and played a completely balanced game as they got a big-time 93-84 win over their in-state rival Duke.
UNC Game Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| 7 Duke 16-5 | 35 | 49 | 84 |
| 3 North Carolina 18-4 | 45 | 48 | 93 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| A. Bacot | 25 | 10 | 5 | 10/13 | 0/0 | 5/7 | 2 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| H. Ingram | 21 | 13 | 1 | 8/12 | 5/9 | 0/0 | 0 | 38 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| R. Davis | 17 | 2 | 5 | 5/14 | 2/3 | 5/6 | 1 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Ryan | 9 | 3 | 2 | 3/7 | 2/5 | 1/3 | 3 | 32 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| E. Cadeau | 7 | 2 | 3 | 1/9 | 0/4 | 5/7 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| S. Trimble | 10 | 2 | 2 | 5/9 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 0 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Washington | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1/1 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Withers | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 2/2 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| D. Farris | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Okonkwo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| R. Landry | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Z. High | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| P. Wojcik | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Lebo | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 93 | 33 | 18 | 33/66 | 9/24 | 18/25 | 12 | – | 9 | 3 | 5 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. McCain | 23 | 11 | 1 | 9/18 | 2/6 | 3/3 | 1 | 38 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| K. Filipowski | 22 | 5 | 0 | 9/17 | 1/6 | 3/5 | 4 | 31 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| J. Roach | 20 | 3 | 2 | 9/16 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 4 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| M. Mitchell | 11 | 7 | 2 | 4/6 | 0/1 | 3/3 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| T. Proctor | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1/6 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 3 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Foster | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2/4 | 0/1 | 0/0 | 5 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| R. Young | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| S. Stewart | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Blakes | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S. Hubbard | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| S. Borden | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| C. Reeves | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Schutt | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| T. Power | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| N. Begovich | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 84 | 33 | 8 | 35/69 | 5/19 | 9/11 | 18 | – | 4 | 3 | 10 |
UNC Bright Spots
Armando Bacot had 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists.
Harrison Ingram had a UNC career-high 21 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals, 1 assist, and 1 block.
RJ Davis had 17 points, 5 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Seth Trimble had 10 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels are playing well, but still need more consistent offensive production from Cormac Ryan, Elliott Cadeau, and Jae’lyn Withers, which will allow them to take their offense to whole another level.
They also need to be more consistent in making their free throws. They missed a couple down the stretch.
Final Observations
North Carolina improves to 18-4 on the season, 10-1 in ACC play. After a disappointing loss to Georgia Tech, the Tar Heels got back on track against their archrival Duke. They played their most complete game of the season against the Blue Devils. Even with RJ Davis not having his best game, others stepped up and carried the offensive load. The depth of this team and their ability to defend at such a high level is what makes this team so special.
They still haven’t reached their full potential because Cormac Ryan, Jae’lyn Withers, and Elliott Cadeau haven’t provided consistent offensive production yet. If they ever do, this team will be practically unbeatable with the way they’ve been playing defense. The way the Heels were able to bounce back after that horrific performance in their last game against Georgia shows how mentally tough this team is their mindset, and their ability to deal with and overcome adversity. Something they struggled with in the past couple of years.
The Tar Heels are in first place in the ACC standings and are putting together a regular season resume that will give them a great chance at a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament in March. Carolina must stay focused though and take it one game at a time because they can only get better going forward. Next up is Clemson on Tuesday, February 6 at 7:00 P.M. on ESPN.
All around great win for the Heels!! Dook tried to take advantage of our shorter guards, but we were able to nullify that advantage with even better defense. I don’t know where these missed free throws are coming from, but we do have to shore that up. Also, Cadeau has to start giving us more on the offensive end, including hitting a jump shot or two.