The Morning After: Duke

Nightmare, absolute nightmare of a second half. I completely thought this game was in the bag, especially when Dexter Strickland banked in the worst shot in basketball from the top of the key with 15:45 left in the second half to put Carolina up 49-39. But, Seth Curry decided to be Stephen for a few minutes and went off for 18 second-half points. My balloon went from fully inflated to a slow leak to a near pop when Nolan Smith put Duke up 60-55 on an old-fashioned three point play with 8:22 left. I completely expected Duke to run away with it at this point, but the youngsters at Carolina kept the game close and avoided a complete meltdown. Moral victories are still losses, but I'm proud of the effort put on display.


Anyone that watches college basketball on a consistent basis knew that Duke was going to make run in the second half at home, and the zebras were going to be a little more lenient with the whistles. It's as predictable as the sun rising in the morning. With a 14-point lead at the break, Carolina needed to make some shots, plain and simple. Looking at the box score, those shots needed to come from the interior. Carolina outscored Duke 48-24 in the paint, and Duke had no answer for Zeller and Henson, who had 48 points, combined. Duke did ratchet up the defense in the second half, but Carolina went away from the big fellas, and settled for jumpers. With that being said, most of those jumpers were fairly open, but 0-6 from the three-point line isn't going to cut it when Duke is on a tear. 


Glaring Stats:


13-22: Carolina's free throw shooting. I know it's Cameron, but if you want to win, you have to make free throws.


3-8, 9 points: Harrison Barnes' offensive output. He was hounded on defense, but Carolina needed to make him a priority on the offensive end with the way he's been scoring lately.


48 points: Zeller and Henson's combined point total, though only nine of those 48 came after Duke took a five-point lead with 8:22 remaining. 


2-14: Carolina from three. Carolina shot 19-41 from three over the past two games, but couldn't hit an open jumper to save a life last night, and it hurt.


3-11: Kendall Marshall from the field. I thought Kendall showed some aggression in getting to the rim that I haven't seen this season, but his shot selection wasn't good at times. Now don't get me wrong, I love this kid, and he's the future of Carolina basketball, but he wanted to take over last night and I think it clouded his decision making. He did have an A:TO of 6:1 though, which is incredible in Cameron.


16-20: Duke's free throw shooting in the second half. 20 second half free throws from a team that took 13 second half three pointers? It wasn't as if a multitude of them came from Carolina having to foul at the end of a game. Only four, possibly six if you count Marshall's tie-up of Singler, of those free throws came with Carolina in must foul situations.


Overall, another classic in the annals of Carolina-Duke. I hate the final result, but I was pleased with what I saw from Carolina. I saw an aggressive streak from Kendall Marshall, I saw dominance by the Carolina bigs for a large chunk of the game, and I saw dominance on the boards from Carolina. I hate the result, but love the effort.