Duke Basketball Collapses in Effort Department Against Tar Heels

For some reason, Duke basketball just didn't bring the necessary juice to the season's first meeting with the Tar Heels.

Photo credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

It's a sad day in Duke basketball history when a squad, with no injuries among players in the regular rotation, fails to match the intensity of archrival UNC. After all, in recent decades, energized Blue Devils' floor burns, bruises, and the likes are what made the bluebloods in Durham essentially an even match for their counterparts in Chapel Hill.

On Saturday night in the Dean E. Smith Center, though, third-year head coach Hubert Davis' No. 3 Tar Heels (18-4, 10-1 ACC) wiped the floor with second-year head coach Jon Scheyer's No. 7 Blue Devils (16-5, 7-3 ACC) in the energy department.

And UNC prevailed, 93-84, padding the Tar Heels' lead atop the conference standings. evening the series record in the Davis era at 3-3, and handing Scheyer his first loss in the rivalry as a head coach (2-0 last season).

Judging by Scheyer's opening statement to the media afterward, the 36-year-old viewed his guys' lack of oomph as highly alarming, especially now that the campaign has reached February. At this stage, Duke teams should seem inspired to demonstrate signs of greatness, particularly when testing their mettle in the NCAA's premier rivalry.

Here's what Scheyer said before taking questions:

"First, you have to congratulate North Carolina. I mean, they played a great game. The game that [Harrison] Ingram and [Armando] Bacot had, they have 46 points and 23 rebounds between the two of them. They were great.

"I thought their defense bothered us in the first half. But the main story for me was the loose balls. Just as you look throughout the game, they were hungrier to get them. And it turned into, you know, I'll go back and watch the film and see, but I bet close to 15, maybe even 20 points. You have to give them credit for that.

"They have a really good team. They played really well together. Their defense is terrific.

"And still, we scored 84 points. You know, we can score. Our thing was getting stops tonight, which we just could not do. And transition, they push it hard; we had probably some miscommunication there. I just wasn't happy with the way we competed. And that's disappointing for me.

"Look, you can play really well and compete your butt off and still lose to them because they're a really good team. But we didn't compete to the level that you need to to have a chance to beat this team tonight. And that's what I'm disappointed about.

"But hats off them. They were terrific. They're really good. I think they're as good as anybody. And we have to learn from this quickly, make no excuses, get back to work, and know there is second half of ACC play to go, where this team can be really good.

"But tonight was not good enough for me or for our program or for our team."

NEXT DUKE BASKETBALL GAME: at home versus unranked Notre Dame, 9 p.m. ET Wednesday (ACCN)

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