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Duke Blue Devils

Duke dominates UNC, delivers rivalry statement behind Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel

Paul Harvey

By Paul Harvey

Published:

Duke and North Carolina have one of the best rivalries in all of sports with a traditionally hard-fought series on the hardwood. However, Saturday’s installment was a thorough statement and complete domination from the Blue Devils.

In the first half, Duke raced out to a 23-6 lead before we reached the 13-minute mark. Cooper Flagg was the catalyst in that stretch with 9 points and assisting on buckets as well.

Duke would build the lead all the way to 47-25 entering halftime, and things got even worse after the break. At one point, the Blue Devils led by 32 points before finishing off an 87-70 victory in a game that truly never felt as close as the final score.

Offensively, Duke was led by the combination of Flagg and Kon Knueppel. They combined for 43 points and 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. As a team, the Blue Devils shot 50% from long range (10-for-20) and nearly 53% from the floor.

Flagg flirted with a triple-double in this one with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists to go with 2 blocks and 3 steals. UNC continually tried to double Flagg, but he dissected the defense time and time again with elite passing and superb shot-making.

The Tar Heels got 12 points each from RJ Davis and Drake Powell while Seth Trimble (10) was the only other UNC player in double figures. Duke forced North Carolina into 14 turnovers in the game and registered 19 points off those turnovers in one of the key areas of the game.

The victory gives Duke its first in the series since March 4, 2023 after the Tar Heels swept both meetings last year. The two sides will end the season on March 8 in a head-to-head matchup in Chapel Hill, but it’s hard to imagine these Tar Heels making it competitive as currently constructed.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.

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