CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Freshman Kon Knuppel scored 17 points, with No. 2 Duke defeating rival North Carolina 82-69 on Saturday night to win the full Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title.
Cooper Flag added 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists despite the Blue Devils’ first half foul trouble (28-3, 19-1).
Duke blew a 15-point lead and chased the seven early after the break, but responded with 12 points in a row to turn the game, silenced the hostile crowd.
The Blue Devils are currently in a position to rank first in Monday’s AP Top 25 polls, with top-ranked Auburn losing their last two games.
Fifth-year senior RJ Davis scored 20 points in the final home game of the Tar Heels (20-12). He was blown away in the first meeting, but this time he responded with much more resilience before Duke controlled to extend his lead in the final seven minutes.
Take home
Duke: Final Four favourites completed their first 19-1 regular season slate since the ACC moved to 20 games in 2019-20.
UNC: Tar Heels won six straight wins with the best play of the season to return to better positioning for the NCAA bid. But this was the last chance to add a victory to raise your resume to help with that case.
Important moments
UNC led 59-53, with Duke moving 12 straight points on a 15-2 burst, moving the Blue Devils ahead. This included a backdoor array of Newpel’s leads, but versatile defender Malik Brown came back from injury and had a big three-pointer, making Duke a 68-61 lead with eight minutes left.
Key Statistics
UNC missed 22 of the last 27 shots in the last 15 or more minutes as Duke made that move.
next
The ACC tournament will begin on Tuesday in Charlotte. Duke will open his play as a one seed in Thursday’s quarterfinals. UNC is a fifth seed and will play in the second round on Wednesday.
