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Off the cuff: UNC coach Roy Williams, responding to a question, said that Joel Berry's absence had an effect but that blaming the loss on that takes away from what Duke did. It certainly wasn't the only reason Carolina lost but they were ahead by eight when he left the game and were behind by seven when he came back in so I think it's fair - without being disrespectful to Duke - to say that it was a big part of the loss. Isaiah Hicks said that the Tar Heels stopped moving offensively in the second half. The Tar Heels shot 56 percent in the first half, hitting 16 shots down low, but they fell apart in the second half shooting only 28 percent. Meanwhile Duke shot 59 percent in the second half and was successful penetrating and pushing it back outside for an open three. The Devils scored 18 more points from beyond the arc than did Carolina and they scored 19 more points from the foul line. Coach Williams likely made one mistake by leaving Berry in the game after he got his third foul two minutes into the second half and another by leaving him out for 10 minutes of game action after getting his fourth foul. I don't so much criticize Coach Williams for not calling a timeout when Duke was in the midst of their second-half run - maybe because I'm used to his playing that style. "Maybe if I die and have time outs left, I'll get something for it," he joked. He also used the term "BS" and joked that it was better than after the previous game when he said the expletive "bullsh*t." Four players for each team scored in double figures. Duke's Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 24 points. Luke Kennard had 20. Grayson Allen had 18. Frank Jackson had 15. Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks scored 19 points each for Carolina. Justin Jackson, though he had an off night, had 16 and Berry added 10. A couple other random thoughts: the officiating was poor against both teams and the timeouts were longer than usual with players and officials waiting around several times for ESPN to get through its commercials and promos.
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