DURHAM, N.C. — Cooper Flagg’s first experience playing rival North Carolina was a cakewalk, and he was a big reason why.
The Duke freshman scored 21 points and added eight rebounds and seven assists as the No. 2 Blue Devils led by 22 points at halftime and rolled to an 87-70 ACC basketball win over the rival Tar Heels on Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils (19-2, 11-0 ACC) won their 15th game in a row, extending the nation’s longest active winning streak. It’s Duke’s longest winning streak since the 2005-06 team won its first 17 games.
A preseason all-American, Flagg made his presence felt immediately in helping Duke take control. Flagg, a Newport native, had a hand in Duke’s first 18 points.. He had six points and four assists in the game’s first six minutes as the Blue Devils built a 23-6 lead.
Duke had scoring runs of 16-0 and 11-0 in the first half and had a 47-25 lead at intermission. Duke led by as many as 32 points in the second half.
The Blue Devils shot 52.8%, making 10 of 20 3-pointers. Kon Knueppel’s 22 points led the Blue Devils while Tyrese Proctor scored 17 and Sion James 13 to give Duke four starters in double figures.
After shooting 29.6% in the first half, the Tar Heels heated up after halftime and finished with 47.3% shooting for the game.
R.J. Davis and Drake Powell each scored 12 points for the Tar Heels while Seth Trimble added 10 points.
Duke had strung together seven consecutive games shooting 50% or better before failing to hit 40% against Wake Forest and N.C. State on Jan. 25 and 27. But the Blue Devils were blistering against the Tar Heels, hitting 11 of their first 18 shots, including four of the first seven 3-pointers.
The Blue Devils had gone all season without having more turnovers than assists in a game until committing 16 turnovers, while gathering 14 assists, in a 63-56 win at Wake Forest. Duke followed that up by committing 10 turnovers, with 10 assists, in its 74-64 win over N.C. State last Monday.
Against UNC, the Blue Devils returned to their season norm by collecting 20 assists, while turning the ball over only eight times.
The Tar Heels, whose non-conference slate was defined by sluggish starts, found themselves facing a 27-point deficit with five minutes remaining in the first half.
Saturday marked the eighth time this season North Carolina fell behind by 10 or more points in the first half. In previous such instances, North Carolina rallied to beat Dayton and UCLA, but eventually lost to Kansas, Michigan State, Florida, Auburn and Alabama.
But this performance against Duke still stands out as more of an outlier than a trend. The Tar Heels’ 27-point hole marked the worst deficit North Carolina has faced all season (until UNC broke that record later in the evening, falling behind by 32).
As for the reasons, well, there are many.
The Tar Heels turned the ball over nine times in the opening half. North Carolina only recorded four fast-break points, and when contained in the half court, struggled to get anything going.
Due to Duke’s elite rim protection, UNC converted on just eight of 17 layup attempts.
While North Carolina found its spurts in the second half, the team’s abysmal first-half performance made it clear the Tar Heels were outmatched by the Blue Devils on all fronts.
Story by Steve Wiseman and Shelby Swanson of The News & Observer.