Duke-North Carolina Rivalry Continues

Duke came out strong in the first half but when Jahlil Okafor went down with an ankle injury with 3 minutes and 34 seconds left most people would think North Carolina would take over but that wasn't the case. But a minute later Matt Jones and Quinn Cook hit back to back threes to put Duke up 13. But North Carolina cut the lead to 7 which made it 49-42 at the half in favor of the Duke Blue Devils. Duke players really stepped up when Okafor went down late in the first half. This showed the depth of Duke Blue Devils to still play at a high level even without their star player Okafor.

The second half was a different story North Carolina came out the gate strong started off by Tar Heels sophomore big man Kennedy Meeks. North Carolina Tar Heels got their first lead in the second half with 15:54 left in the second half up 54-53. Then with Carolina up 5 with 1:23 left in the game on the inbound the Tar Heels throw the ball away which gave the ball back to the Blue Devils. But the next play Tyus Jones throws it away on the inbound it seems like nerves was starting to get to the players on the court. Bryce Johnson shoots a 1 of 1 and misses off the front rim and north Carolina couldn't get the rebound and it goes out of bounds. Next play Tyus Jones comes down the court and drives to the basket and scores a layup which ties the game up at 81-81 with 27.5 seconds left in the game. So it was North Carolina chance to hold the ball and score the last shot. But they held the ball but couldn't score Marcus Paige shot the contested three for the win but missed.

So we head to overtime both teams were trading baskets back and forth. Okafor made a post moved that he scored off of to put Duke up 90 to 89 with 1:42 left in overtime. Quinn Cook two free throws sealed the game and Duke won the overtime thriller 92 to 90. Quinn Cook finished with 22 points. Freshman Tyus Jones added 22 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists. The other freshman in Jahlil Okafor and Justice Winslow contributed as well. Okafor finished with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Justice Winslow had 16 points and 7 assists. Amile Jefferson also finished with 13 points, 6 blocks, and 5 rebounds.

Kennedy Meeks  had a good game for the Tar Heels finishing with 18 points, and 7 rebounds. Brice Johnson also finished with 18 points, and 12 rebounds. J.P. Tokoto had 15 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 assists. Isiah Hicks had 12 points and 3 rebounds. Nate Britt had 11 points. Marcus Paige was basically nonexistent he only scored 5 points shooting 2 for 11 from the field Quinn Cook had Paige on locks for majority of the game. However Marcus Paige did have 5 rebounds and 3 assists. After this game Duke Blue Devils are now 23-3 and the North Carolina  Tar Heels falls to 18-8. Both teams don't play their next game until Saturday North Carolina plays Georgia Tech and Duke plays Clemson.