North Carolina, which tied a school record for fewest turnovers in a game, came from 12 down to take control in the second half and defeat rival Duke 82-78.<\/p>\n
The Tar Heels, underdogs at home, survived a 14-4 Blue Devil run in the first half and a five-minute scoring drought in the second half. <\/p>\n
UNC coach Roy Williams pointed to his team’s assist-to-turnover (15 assists, two turnovers) ratio as a key. “We didn’t shoot exceptionally well but we scored when we needed to,” Coach Williams said. “Except for a stretch of five or six minutes where we didn’t score, we played exceptionally well in the second half.”<\/p>\n
Having cut a 40-28 deficit to just four at 49-45 at the half, the Tar Heels stormed out of the locker room to outscore the Devils 16-2 to take control at 61-51.<\/p>\n
During that run, where the Heels scored on seven straight possessions, Kenny Williams and Joel Berry hit back-to-back long three pointers. <\/p>\n
Williams, who tied a career-high 20 points, hit six of 12 threes while Cam Johnson, the transfer from Pitt, hit four of eight three pointers. Johnson, who scored 18 points, added a career-high 13 rebounds.<\/p>\n
Rebounding was a big difference in the second half as the Tar Heels went from a five-rebound deficit in the first half to a six-rebound advantage for the game. Carolina picked up 15 offensive rebounds which helped control the clock a bit late when the Tar Heels were having trouble scoring.<\/p>\n
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the story of the second half was the 15 offensive rebounds for Carolina. “It showed how hard they were going after it,” Coach K said of the Heels. <\/p>\n
During the biggest drought, Duke cut a nine-point Carolina lead to just two at 74-71 with under five minutes to go. The Tar Heels had missed 13 field goal attempts in a row before Johnson drained a three from the left wing to put Carolina up 77-71 with 3:07 to play.<\/p>\n
Berry added a couple of free throws to give the Heels a 79-71 cushion with 2:29 to go.<\/p>\n
The Tar Heels had a couple of chances to wrap it up but Theo Pinson missed a dunk and Williams missed a contested layup, opening the door for Duke.<\/p>\n
A Marvin Bagley dunk pulled Duke to 79-75 with 34 seconds to go. A Berry free throw and a flying dunk straight down the lane by Pinson with 12 seconds to go wrapped it up. <\/p>\n
Joining Williams and Johnson in double figures were Berry, who scored 21 despite missing seven of eight threes, and Luke Maye who added 15.<\/p>\n
Pinson, the other starter, only scored four points but he hauled in seven rebounds, dished out four assists, and had two steals and a block.<\/p>\n
Gary Trent led Duke with 16 points while Bagley added 15 points and 13 rebounds. <\/p>\n
The Tar Heels, who travel to N.C. State Saturday, improve to 18-7 and 7-5 in the league while Duke, who have lost two in a row, falls to 19-5 and 7-4 in the ACC. <\/p>\n