The North Carolina Tar Heels completed their first regular-season sweep of Duke in 10 years on Saturday evening. Star freshman Coby White led the way with a second-half outburst that essentially put the game out of reach for Duke. For the Blue Devils, it was more feelings of “what if.” Weeks after their first matchup was marred by the Zion Williamson injury, many thought it was destiny for Williamson to return for their second date. However, Williamson was ruled out and, to make things worse, center Marques Bolden was knocked out of the game with a leg injury mere minutes into the contest.
Despite the missing pieces, Duke made this game a much better contest than the previous meeting. The tie was close throughout, and the Blue Devils even had a lead at halftime. Coby White and the Tar Heels simply proved too much to handle for short-handed Duke.
Coby White with the ? handles.
(? @INFINITIUSA) pic.twitter.com/ntDGkFGCEH
— ESPN (@espn) March 9, 2019
North Carolina had 4 players score in double figures, led by Coby White with 21 points on 8-18 shooting. Kenny Williams lit up the first half on both ends, setting the tone for what was to come in the second half for the Tar Heels. The senior capped his final game with an 18 point outing on 4-7 3pt shooting. The two other seniors, Cam Johnson and Luke Maye, both came alive in the second half to close out the Blue Devils while scoring 14 and 10 points respectively.
For Duke, it was a 2-man show. Star freshmen RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish combined for 49 of Duke’s 70 points, as they were the only players who scored in double figures. Barrett, a relentless competitor, tried taking the game by the horns at times, but foul trouble and some iffy charge calls disrupted his momentum. It was not a pretty effort from the Blue Devils, as the two star freshmen combined to shoot 16-40 from the field while Jack White and Alex O’Connell, the team’s complimentary shooters, shot a combined 1-10 from the field.
The crowd at the Dean Smith Center was electric, as always, and the game was closely contested. In contrast to the first meeting, this matchup was reminiscent of the high quality, close games featured in the Tobacco Road rivalry past. In the late stretch, however, Coby White caught fire, and the underhanded Duke team simply ran out of gas. Duke will certainly dream of an ACC Tournament rematch featuring a healthy Zion Williamson, while the Tar Heels will rightfully celebrate their first regular-season sweep of the decade in this series. To put this in context; the last time North Carolina swept Duke, MTV’s Jersey Shore was 10 months from its series premiere.
It has been a long time coming, and the Tar Heels may not feel fully satisfied due to Williamson’s absence, but North Carolina has swept Duke and entered a dominant chapter into this rivalry. Roy Williams nabs another over Coach K. The North Carolina Tar Heels finished in second place as ACC co-Champions while Duke land in third.
