Up by seven points with less than two minutes left in the game, it seemed as though North Carolina had it in the bag.
Duke had already blown what seemed like its best chance to come back, with bad shot selection and poor communication on defense allowing the Tar Heels to pull ahead. It didn’t help that Matthew Hurt had just fouled out of the game. However, the Blue Devils answered the wake-up call, as they'd been doing all night long. Wendell Moore Jr. and Jordan Goldwire put the team on their backs to claw back into the contest with suffocating defense and heady transition offense. Now down by two points with 15 seconds left to play, Moore found himself with a wide open lane to the rim to possibly tie it up in buzzer-beater fashion, an opportunity to build on last year’s game-winner in Chapel Hill.
But, sticking to the season-long theme of ‘almost, but not quite there,’ Moore was called for a traveling violation, virtually ending any chance at a Duke victory.
“Something went their way toward the end of the game and it's gonna be like that sometimes,” Goldwire said. “We just gotta keep fighting and keep getting better each day.”
This wasn’t the only time Duke whiffed on an opportunity to take control of the game. After a subpar opening to the contest, the Blue Devils seemed like they were finally finding their way near the end of the first half. With just under four minutes remaining in the opening period, freshman Jalen Johnson capped off a 14-2 run with a layup to give Duke its first lead of the game.
On the next play, fellow freshman Jeremy Roach stole the ball in the open floor and drove to the rim, hoping to extend Duke’s edge and allow everyone to forget about how sloppily the Blue Devils played early on. However, Roach missed the wide open layup, further cementing the narrative of the contest, as well as the narrative of this season as a whole.
Time and time again, Duke blew chances to capitalize on North Carolina mistakes—with 16 Tar Heel turnovers, the Blue Devils had ample opportunity to do so. However, numerous mental errors, which have plagued this young Duke team all season, reappeared at all the wrong times.
Don’t get me wrong—this game was one of Duke’s best performances of the season. The Blue Devils fought hard from start to finish, hitting big shots and playing unselfishly on the offensive side of the ball. But an ill-advised shot here, a mindless turnover there, and Duke’s commendable efforts were all for naught.
“[Head coach Mike Krzyzewski] told us that he was proud with the way that we fought,” Goldwire said. “A couple of things here and there and we win that game.”
Goldwire is correct—if a few things shaked in the Blue Devils’ favor, the Tar Heels could have easily been the ones going home with a loss. However, throughout the game—and the rest of the season in general—Duke had more than enough chances so that a questionable call by a referee or a dropped pass by a wide open teammate would not be the deciding factor in whether the team wins or not.
Relying on 50-50 games going their way isn't going to get the Blue Devils into the NCAA tournament this year. Duke’s chances, as slim as they are already, are shrinking each day, and the team must find a way to make sure things start shaking in its favor.
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