UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Spoils the Devils and Coach K’s Celebration in His Home Finale 

by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team looked to beat Duke in Coach K’s last home game as a coach on Saturday night. The Tar Heels got out to an 11-4 lead to start the game. Duke battled back to make it a close game and it was a back-and-forth game for the next few minutes. Duke would then go on a 12-0 run and go up by 7. During this run, UNC had a few players in foul trouble and Duke took full advantage of the Heels being out of rhythm and disjointed on both sides of the floor. Although The Tar Heels only shot 38% from the field and didn’t play their best half, they made a run to close the first half and were only down two going into halftime.

In the second half, UNC got back to playing Carolina basketball. The Heels did a great job of sharing the ball on offense and their defensive intensity was a huge key to their second-half success. North Carolina played tremendous defense on Duke’s two best players AJ Griffin and Paulo Banchero, who both had subpar games and had to work for everything they got offensively.

UNC also took care of the ball with only 1 turnover to 8 assists in the second half. The Carolina starters played the entire second half and left it all the floor. Four Tar Heels scored at least 20 points including Armando Bacot, Caleb Love, RJ Davis, and Brady Manek. North Carolina took the lead with 63-61 with 9:21 seconds left in the game and took control of the game. The Heels never relinquished the lead from that point on and pushed their lead to 13 points. This would lead to the Tar Heels’ biggest win of the season and they would give Coach K a loss in his final home as a coach.

UNC Game Stats

1st     2nd     TOT

North Carolina 39      55      94

#4 Duke        41      40      81

North Carolina

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
A. Bacot F	30	10-11	0-0	3-4	1	6	7	0	2	2	1	2	23
B. Manek F	40	7-16	5-10	1-2	1	10	11	3	1	1	1	2	20
R.J. Davis G	40	9-16	2-4	1-2	1	4	5	4	2	1	2	2	21
C. Love G	38	4-17	2-7	12-12	0	5	5	5	1	0	1	2	22
L. Black G	38	2-6	0-1	2-2	3	2	5	3	1	0	0	3	6
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
J. McKoy F	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
P. Johnson G	5	1-2	0-1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	2
D. Dunn G	1	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
D. Styles G	4	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0
TEAM		33-68	9-23	19-22	8	29	37	15	7	4	5	14	94
		48.5%	39.1%	86.4%

Duke

STARTERS	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
W. Moore Jr. F	35	3-8	2-3	0-0	0	5	5	7	1	0	2	2	8
AJ Griffin F	34	2-5	1-3	0-0	0	3	3	0	1	2	0	1	5
P. Banchero F	38	11-26	1-5	0-1	3	2	5	5	0	0	4	2	23
M. Williams C	26	8-11	0-0	0-0	3	10	13	0	0	0	1	2	16
T. Keels G	36	4-12	2-7	2-3	0	3	3	2	0	0	0	0	12
BENCH	MIN	FG	3PT	FT	OREB	DREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
T. John F	10	1-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	2	1	1	2	0	3	2
J. Roach G	21	5-6	1-1	4-4	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	15
TEAM		34-69	7-19	6-8	8	26	34	15	3	4	9	14	81
		49.3%	36.8%	75.0%

UNC Bright Spots

Armando Bacot had 23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.

Caleb Love had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal.

RJ Davis had 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

Brady Manek had 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block.

1 turnover in the second half.

Needs Work

The Tar Heels need to do a better job of starting games better and playing defense without fouling as much.

Final Observations

The Tar Heels got their biggest win of the season tonight and finish the season with a 23-8 record, 15-5 in ACC play. The Heels beat Coach K in his final home game as a coach and did it in an impressive fashion. UNC put together one of their better halves of the season in the second half of this game. They played to their strengths on both sides of the floor and displayed to us how much they have grown as a team with this win.

Not many people thought it was possible for them to pull off this win, but this team was able to go into a hostile environment with all the odds stacked against them and pull it off. It looks like North Carolina is finally hitting their stride at the right time with the ACC and NCAA tournaments next up on their schedule.

Coach Hubert Davis finishes his first season as a coach with over 20 wins, which not many coaches can say they have done. Many people have been critical of his performance as a coach this season with the lack of big wins, but he has really done a good job overall. Next up is the ACC tournament. North Carolina plays on Thursday, but their opponent is TBD.