Duke sweeps season series with North Carolina

Unlike the Blue Devils’ victory in Chapel Hill, there was never a need for late game heroics or buzzer-beating shots. This time, Duke led from start to finish.

“We were fortunate to win there,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We weren’t fortunate to win here. We played a solid, really good basketball game.”

Duke was the aggressor right from the start, despite using an unusual starting lineup that featured Javin DeLaurier, Jack White and Justin Robinson, all in for the tip on their senior night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Though none of the three have spent much time in the starting lineup this season, all three have been contributors at various times this season. And all three were impactful in the start of this game.

DeLaurier recorded a steal just 30 seconds into the game, and just a 1:21 later, Robinson connected on his first of four 3-point baskets. White, despite not registering anything on the stat sheet, helped set the tone with physicality and his focused approach.

For the first 2:30 minutes, that trio sent a message to the rest of the roster in how Duke would play on this night. It was the exact recipe this team needed.

“We started the three seniors - a grad student with J-Rob,” Krzyzewski said. “Really was our best start that we’ve had in a couple months because they were tough.”

“Last time, up until the last four minutes when we started to come back, I think we really let them have their way,” Tre Jones said. “Tonight, we came out - the seniors set the tone for sure with how hard they were playing. Always in the right spots.”

Robinson, who has emerged was one of the great stories in college sports over the last couple weeks, continued to leave his mark on the game in a huge way.

He played just shy of 25 minutes, and was one of the major reasons Duke controlled the basketball game. He finished the night with 13 points, six rebounds, four blocks, three assists and one steal. It was truly a remarkable performance.

His presence on the defensive end helped change how Duke could play all night long. While North Carolina’s bigs, Garrison Brooks and Armando Bacot were outstanding, combining for 39 points and 25 rebounds, Duke’s ability to regain control of them late in the game was the difference in a double-digit victory and a down-to-the-wire battle.

Brooks in particular was on fire in the second half, scoring 15 points over the first 12 minutes of the half. He scored his last bucket with 7:54 to go in the game. He made a single free throw later in the game, but that was it.

Robinson and Vernon Carey combined for five blocks in the game. Brooks was blocked five times on the night, four of them came at the hands of Robinson and Carey.

“With his length, he just blocks everything that comes at him,” Carey said of Robinson. So, he gives me a little advantage to beat my man running the floor.”

Which brings us to perhaps the most important point of the night. Duke shutdown North Carolina’s ability to run and score in transition.

In fact, the Blue Devils outscored them in that regard 19-5 for the game. That number was 15-0 in the first half. Through the first 20 minutes of action, North Carolina had just three assists. The Tar Heels finished with only seven. In Chapel Hill, that number was 23 and it was a primary reason they controlled the game for most of the night.

Duke prevented the Tar Heels from running and managed to dictate the pace most of the night. All of that was by design for the Blue Devils, as they spent the majority of their time preparing to take that part of the game away from North Carolina.

“That has been the biggest point of emphasis in our practices, is to get back,” Krzyzewski said. “Even at the expense of not going to the offensive boards. Not to get back with your man, but just to get back in lanes. If Vernon was trying to score the bucket and they got the rebound, Vernon would have to be the second big. Then J-Rob or Jav or Jack, would go back.

“Say Cassius was on Leaky Black, but Black was on that side of the court, you just come down in lanes. You take the person that you’re with. Same thing with Tre. If someone does go out he has to take that guy and someone else has to take the ball.”

Jones, with the help of Jordan Goldwire, was a force on defense yet again. The duo slowed down Cole Anthony all night long and held him to just nine points on 4-of-14 shooting. He also managed just three assists.

Taking him out of the game, essentially handicapped North Carolina all night long.

Brooks and Bacot were fantastic, but UNC got little help outside of that. Duke was willing to take that outcome.

“I think it’s a team effort to be honest,” Jones said of how they defended Anthony. “He’s an extremely tough player. Talented. And he gets into a lot of ISO plays and things like that. So just trying to take him out and force him into more of his weaknesses. I think the way we guarded them on the ball screen and were able to come over on help side and things like that and throw them off and make them shoot tough shots was huge the entire night.”

While defense was the key to this victory, Duke’s response to Brooks offensive outburst in the second half was the play of Carey.

He was absolutely dominant in the second half, scoring 18 of his 25 points in the final 20 minutes. Sixteen of those came in the final 13 minutes of the game.

Carey also gave Duke 10 rebounds on the night.

Krzyzewski described Jones as “magnificent” after the sophomore scored 21 points and handed out 11 assists.

Cassius Stanley was also a force for the Blue Devils, scoring 19 points, including a 3-pointer that came just moments after Robinson connected on one of his own. The back-to-back 3s, came just five minutes into the second half after UNC cut Duke’s lead to one point. In a matter of 36 seconds, Duke jumped back out to a seven point lead.

North Carolina did cut Duke’s lead back to one later in the game, but the timing of the 3s put a stop to a slow start to the second half and helped the Blue Devils refocus.

“(Robinson’s) three at the end of the shot-clock and then Cassius’ three, huge,” Krzyzewski said. “To get six points in those two possessions was huge.”