UNC Crushes Duke In Chapel Hill, 91-73
Nothing but a whoopin
One of the, if not the foundational moments in the history of Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke Basketball program was after Ralph Sampson’s Virginia team beat Duke by 43 in the ACC Tournament.
The staff and several people around the program were out for a meal when Johnny Moore offered “here’s to forgetting tonight.”
Coach’s K’s famous response: “here’s to never forgetting tonight.”
We hope his current team gets that lesson reiterated after the regular season finale in Chapel Hill because UNC just took it to Duke in every way possible and although Duke played UNC basically even in the second half, it wasn't enough to overcome a 16 point halftime deficit, much less the overall poor play that characterized Duke’s effort.
Duke was just beaten in nearly every facet of the game, particularly in the first half, and there’s no sugarcoating it. The only chance Duke has to get to the NCAA tournament now is to win the ACC Tournament and since the Blue Devils finished 10th, that means no byes, which means that Duke would have to beat a suddenly tougher Boston College, Louisville and Florida State - just to get to Friday’s game.
Nothing’s impossible but that’s a tough path.
Jim will be along soon with his take.
- TOBACCO ROAD BEATDOWN: Duke men’s basketball toppled by North Carolina to close regular season
- Five observations from Duke men’s basketball’s first half against North Carolina
- ACC tournament set with Virginia as the top seed; Duke falls to the opening round
- UNC blasts Duke in regular season finale