College Basketball

UNC Basketball: Tar Heels can't get road win at Duke

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 9:51 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

Fansided, Zack Pearson/FanSided via Keeping It Heel

The North Carolina Tar Heels drop a heartbreaker to Duke in Durham

Losing to Duke sucks. It really does.

On Thursday, the North Carolina Tar Heels fell short against the Duke Blue Devils in Durham, dropping the first meeting between the two teams 86-78.

The Blue Devils caught fire from behind the three-point line, making 13 of their 27 three-point attempts. They were led by junior guard Grayson Allen who scored 25 points, including seven three-pointers.

For UNC, it was a struggle both on the perimeter and at the free throw line. UNC only made four three-pointers and missed a total of eight free throws.

At one point in the second half, Duke built a 8 point lead. But UNC responded with a 20-8 run to take four-point lead.

Duke’s capitalization down the stretch and UNC’s struggles at the line were the story of the game.

The Tar Heels were missing senior forward Isaiah Hicks and it showed. Duke was able to hang with UNC on the boards and not get dominated, like we saw last year.

They took advantage of strong post play and hot shooting to earn the win.

For Duke, it’s another win and what seems like a turning point in their season. They are now a game out of a double bye in the ACC Tournament.

The Heels on the other hand drop into a tie for first place in the ACC with their third conference loss of the season.

Justin Jackson led UNC with 21 points and Joel Berry II was the only other Tar Heels player in double-digits with 15 points.

Sophomore Luke Maye played well filling in for Hicks in the starting lineup as he scored 8 points.

The best advice I have for Tar Heels fans is not to panic. Still plenty of games left and a chance to win the ACC again.

Bring on March 4.

More from Keeping It Heel

This article originally appeared on

share

Get more from College Basketball Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

College Basketball

North Carolina Tar Heels