College Basketball

Duke Basketball Excels in Rivalry Win Over UNC

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 2:46 p.m. ET

Fansided, Chris Brown/FanSided via Ball Durham

The Duke Blue Devils played extremely well to hold off a late rally from the UNC Tar Heels and upset the 8th-ranked team in the country at home.

No. 18 Duke defeated No. 8 North Carolina 86-78 in a tightly contested rivalry matchup. The score went back-and-forth the entire game, but the Blue Devils were able to hold off the Tar Heels late and come away with the huge win.

Before the game we outlined the keys to victory for the Blue Devils, and Duke excelled in all three areas. They outrebounded on of the top rebounding teams in the country 31-30. Duke recorded 15 assists on 30 field goals led by Jayson Tatum with five. The Blue Devils also limited their mistakes and executed late in the game when UNC took the lead late, and it was actually the more experienced Tar Heels who made errors that Duke was able to capitalize on.

It was a complete team effort for Duke, who had four players finish with double figures. Grayson Allen led the game in scoring with 25 points shooting 9-15 from the field. Luke Kennard added 20 points for the Duke Blue Devils and Jayson Tatum contributed 19. Tatum had one of his best performances of the year finishing with a well-rounded 19 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 assists, and scored all of his points in the second half. Additionally, freshman guard Frank Jackson had a very underrated performances recording 11 points without missing a FG and 0 turnovers.

The win gives the Blue Devils their fourth straight victory and keeps them in the ACC hunt as the team moves to 19-5 and 7-4 in the conference. Duke continues to improve and increase the chemistry between players heading towards the postseason. Duke Basketball will be back in action on Saturday afternoon hosting the Clemson Tigers.