By Brian Murphy, WRAL

North Carolina Tar Heels	70
2Duke Blue Devils	87
Final

Durham, N.C. — Duke left no doubt about where it stands and what it can accomplish this season.

Rival North Carolina didn’t either.

The second-ranked Blue Devils crushed the Tar Heels 87-70 at Cameron Indoor Stadium after having led by as many as 32 and further cemented their status as top-tier national title contenders.

Star freshman Cooper Flagg did it all, once again, showcasing the all-around game that is likely to make him the national player of the year and the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. It was the 15th straight win for Duke (19-2, 11-0 in the ACC).

“This is why you go to a school like Duke,” said Duke guard Sion James, a graduate transfer making his debut in what he called “the coolest rivalry in sports.”

“Big rivalry, big games every weekend. It’s awesome.”

And the Tar Heels, well, they are now likely on the outside of the NCAA Tournament bubble — and quickly running out of opportunities to change that. UNC, which has lost four of its last five, simply looked outclassed in a game it never led. UNC is 13-10, 6-5 in the ACC.

“We’re discouraged, but we’re going to move forward,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “We’re going to get back up, move forward and continue to get better and try to become the team that I think we all know we can be.”

Duke used a 16-0 run early in the first half to grab control. And the Blue Devils never looked back. They led 47-25 at halftime after Flagg’s turnaround jumper at the buzzer.

“They whooped us,” UNC guard Seth Trimble said. “They kicked us straight in the back, right from the jump. We didn’t respond quick enough.”

Flagg scored or assisted on Duke’s first 18 points of the game. He finished with 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks.

“He’s a savant,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “He really is. He makes everybody better around him. It’s a heck of a thing when he has 21-8-7 and you feel like he could have done more.”

Said fellow freshman Kon Knueppel: “He’s awesome, but he makes everybody else look awesome. A special player does that.”

Knueppel scored 22 points with five assists and five rebounds. Knueppel, who grew up in Wisconsin and didn’t pay much attention to the Duke-UNC rivalry, said he read “Blue Blood” to become more famliar with the series before his first game in it.

“It feels awesome to get a big-time win like this,” Knueppel said.

Tyrese Proctor added 17 points for the Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils’ size and length, as expected, created problems for the smaller Tar Heels, particularly when UNC was on offense. Duke entered the game fifth in the nation in points allowed.

The Tar Heels had more turnovers (nine) than made field goals (eight) in the first half. No UNC player made more than two field goals in the first half.

“We came out with really good energy,” Flagg said. “The building was jumping.”

Said Scheyer: “From the get-go, you could just feel a special environment.”

The Blue Devils led by as many as 32 points in the second half before North Carolina went on an 18-2 run to make the final score more respectable.

UNC has played one of the nation’s toughest schedules and has been competitive even against its toughest opponents. But Saturday’s first half showed just how much of a difference there is in the two programs at the moment — one is chasing an undefeated ACC regular season and No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The other would likely sign up for a trip to Dayton right now.

RJ Davis, now 3-2 in five career games at Cameron, and freshman Drake Powell led UNC with 12 points each.

“I don’t think there’s a gap,” Davis said. “… We just got to do a better job of being ready next time we see them and play our basketball a little bit better.”

Game notes:

North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau was assessed a flagrant foul in the first half. Cadeau hit Proctor with an elbow to the face as Cadeau was driving to the basket.

Duke’s Maliq Brown (four games) and UNC’s Jalen Washington (one game), who had missed time entering the game, returned to action. Brown finished with two points, three rebounds and two assists, but Scheyer credited him with helping Duke’s defense.

Washington scored six points and had four rebounds in 17 minutes.

Source: wralsportsfan.com