North Carolina held multiple double-digit leads over Duke in Saturday’s contest. The Blue Devils overcame both of them, but the Tar Heels knocked down their free throws in the closing seconds to secure the win, 91-87. The win over their rival snaps a three-game losing streak to the team in dark blue.
Caleb Love was the difference maker. He finished with a career-high 25 points to go along with seven assists and four made treys. His head coach was unhappy with his five turnovers and inability to get back on defense at times, but without the freshman point guard, the losing streak extends to four games.
Five other Tar Heels finished in double figures: Armando Bacot (16), Garrison Brooks (12), Leaky Black (12), Kerwin Walton (12) and Day’Ron Sharpe (11). In the first half, Black found himself with three fouls and couldn’t impact the game much. He said he resorted to being a vocal leader until he got back on the floor in the second half and could lead by example again. He certainly did that as his two free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining lifted his team to victory.
The No. 2 scorer in the ACC in Matthew Hurt was a non-factor Saturday night. UNC used its big men to get him in foul trouble as he fouled out with over four minutes remaining, and he finished with seven points when he’s averaged 18.8 per game this season.
Read and watch everything the Tar Heel head coach had to say on his postgame Zoom with media members below:
