6 hours Ago
DURHAM (AP) — Cooper Flagg had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in his Duke-North Carolina rivalry debut, helping the second-ranked Blue Devils roll past the Tar Heels 87-70 on Saturday night. Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel scored 22 points for Duke (19-2, 11-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which shot 52.8% and made 10 of 20 from 3-point range to win their 15th straight game.
RJ Davis and Drake Powell each scored 12 points to lead the Tar Heels (13-10, 6-5), who fell behind 40-13 and trailed by as many as 32 points. Takeaways UNC: The Tar Heels have lost four of five, with the lone victory coming in overtime against a Boston College team that had just one league win at the time. Duke: The Blue Devils have won their 11 league games by an average of 19.
8 points, though there were grinds in the past week to beat Wake Forest and N.C. State.
Key moment The Blue Devils wobbled the Tar Heels with a 16-0 run that effectively ended this one early. Tyrese Proctor got Duke going with a 3-pointer set up by Flagg passing out of a double team, then threw down a dunk after a turnover. Moments later, Flagg buried a catch-and-fire 3 from the top to force UNC into a timeout.
He emerged from the stoppage by finishing a bounce feed from Proctor for a transition basket and a foul. By the time Knueppel scored in the lane over Ian Jackson, the Blue Devils led 23-6. Key stat North Carolina had more turnovers (nine) than field goals in the first half after shooting just 8 for 27 (29.
6%). Duke had 11 points off those turnovers. Up next The Blue Devils visit Syracuse on Wednesday night, while the Tar Heels host Pittsburgh on Saturday in a game that could help boost their NCAA Tournament resume.
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