Griffin Has Career Day, Duke Dominates Rivals UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Duke freshman forward AJ Griffin scored a career-high 27 points as the Blue Devils dominated the rival North Carolina Tar Heels 90-61 in the Dean Smith Center on Saturday evening.

The Blue Devils shot 58 percent and took all drama out of the renewal of the famed rivalry early in both halves, both in building a big lead and then stretching it back out after the Tar Heels had made a run to climb back in it.

The win allowed Duke (19-3, 9-2 ACC) to send Krzyzewski off with a 17th and final victory in the Smith Center, where he coached against the Tar Heels in its opening game in January 1986.

Brady Manek scored 21 points to lead the Tar Heels (16-7, 8-4 ACC), who had won four straight games and swept last season’s rivalry series. But after gaining an early double-digit advantage, Duke did not allow UNC to recover and slowly quieted the rowdy crowd.

Duke shot out to a 31-8 lead, then rode a star-level performance from Griffin. He had 13 points before halftime then put on a show to start the second half with his own 10-0 run that featured two three-pointers — one of which had him dribbling between his legs to freeze Manek before burying it from in front of the Duke bench.

By the time Griffin scored over Manek on an off-balance drive, Duke had stretched the lead back to 49-28 to force a North Carolina timeout.

Paolo Banchero and Wendell Moore Jr both finished the night with 13 points each for Duke. Banchero managed to get 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. Griffin also managed to pull down four rebounds in the game.

Brady Manek led the way for the Tar Heels with 21 points and six rebounds. Forward Armando Bacot finished the game with 12 points and six rebounds.

UNC will look to bounce back on the road when they face Clemson in South Carolina on Tuesday at 6 PM.

Duke will look to keep their momentum going as they host Virginia on Monday at 7 PM.