Duke Rallies To Beat North Carolina On Grayson Allen's Senior Night

Senior night is an emotional time for the players and their parents  or in this case player as Duke only has one senior in guard Grayson Allen who is from Jacksonville Florida who in his freshman year in 2015  brought energy to the national title game in Indianapolis against Wisconsin when Duke was down nine points and came back to win. 

Saturday night in front of a deafening crowd at  Cameron Indoor Stadium had the same set of circumstances as Duke was down but by double digits at   half at 35-25  before clawing their way back in the game.

 With No. 5 Duke trailing its fiercest rival and struggling to match the magnitude of the moment, coach Mike Krzyzewski had a simple message for his team. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

No pressure -- and no set plays, either. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

"Take the pianos off your back, quit playing with all the pressure in the world, get a smile on your face," Krzyzewski said. "Just play.""according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Marvin Bagley III had 18 of his 21 points in the second half along with 15 rebounds, and No. 5 Duke erased a 13-point deficit in the second half and beat No. 9 North Carolina 74-64 on Saturday night. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Grayson Allen added 15 points in his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Gary Trent Jr. had 13 points -- including three 3-pointers in the final 10 minutes -- to help the Blue Devils (25-6, 13-5) clinch the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Duke was 8 of 15 from 3-point range in the second half -- the Blue Devils made just 1 of 10 from that distance in the first half -- and outrebounded North Carolina 24-13 after halftime. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

"They kicked our butts in the second half," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Cameron Johnson scored 16 points for the Tar Heels (22-9, 11-7), while Kenny Williams and Luke Maye each had 13. Three weeks after they rallied from a double-figure deficit to win the rivalry's first game, it was the Blue Devils' turn to flip the script. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Duke trailed by 11 with 14 1/2 minutes to play, but once the pressure started to fade, the ACC's top offense finally found its rhythm."according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

"I'm not going to call any plays," Krzyzewski said he told his team. "If you hit, cut, everybody touch the ball, you see a play to make, you make the play. And get comfortable in the game. And they did that. You could see them do that." "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

The Blue Devils hit four 3s in 4 1/2 minutes to erase that deficit, and that came early during the 25-10 burst keyed by six 3s that put them ahead to stay."according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

BIG PICTURE

North Carolina: The Tar Heels had a chance to spoil Duke's Senior Night for the third time in their last four regular-season-ending visits to Cameron, and sweep their fiercest rivals. Instead, after too many missed shots at inopportune times, they'll enter the postseason on a two-game losing streak."according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

"Played a little timid, and it's hard to win games like that -- playing timid," guard Joel Berry II said."according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Duke: This very well might have been the final game at Cameron for a good chunk of the starting five, with Allen -- the team's lone senior -- surrounded by three potential one-and-done freshmen and Krzyzewski acknowledging in the leadup to the game that "it's the last game probably for a few of our other kids, too." The offense came alive just in time to send Allen -- and maybe the others -- out the way they wanted. "according http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

KEY STATS

North Carolina, which tied a program record with two turnovers in the previous meeting on Feb. 8, had much more trouble taking care of the ball in this one. The Tar Heels had 14 turnovers and the Blue Devils turned them into 15 points. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

COMFORT ZONE

The Tar Heels also set a program record under Williams by taking 33 3-pointers in the first meeting, and put up 31 more in this one against Duke's 2/3 zone defense. But they only made eight -- three after halftime -- and the most conspicuous stat line belonged to Berry, last year's Final Four Most Outstanding Player who finished 0 for 7 from 3-point range. "I don't like shooting 31 3s," Williams said. "That's not who we are." "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

KEY STRETCH

Duke had missed 13 of its first 14 3s before Trevon Duval and Allen connected on back-to-back possessions near the 13-minute mark and made it a two-possession game. Then, after Johnson missed a 3-pointer, Bagley finished off a pretty feed from Duval for a dunk that pulled the Blue Devils to 46-43 and reclaimed the momentum for good. "Marvin went nuts there for a while and just put us on his back," Krzyzewski said."according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

HE SAID IT

"Aliens crawled up in my guys' bodies in the second half, because this wasn't the North Carolina team I've seen all year." -- Williams, on his team losing composure in the second half. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

With the regular season coming to a close the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament will begin Tuesday in Brookyln New York at the Barclays Center that is home to the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. 

North Carolina: Earned the No. 6 seed in the ACC Tournament and will play the Wake Forest-Syracuse winner on Wednesday night. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200

Duke: As the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament, the Blue Devils will play either Notre Dame, Pittsburgh or Virginia Tech on Thursday night. "according to http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=211703982&DB_OEM_ID=4200