If you had Cormac Ryan for 31 points on your Bingo card, go to the head of the line.
Ryan had a career-high 31 points to key North Carolina to an 84-79 win over Duke Saturday night.
He had nine of those in the first 3:34, three 3-pointers, two in transition.
Find shooters in transition is a cardinal rule of hoops.
Don’t let a shooter see the ball go through the basket is another.
Duke violated both and paid the price. The visitors led 10-2, then 17-4, then 21-6, establishing a cushion that Duke never could completely overcome, although multiple Duke runs put game pressure on Carolina most of the second half.
And to their credit they responded often enough to hold off every comeback attempt.
Duke’s players couldn’t put their fingers on what went wrong early. Over-amped? Yes. Too casual? Yes. Caught up in the Senior Day hype? You got it.
While praising UNC’s game, Jon Scheyer said the bulk of Duke’s wounds were self-inflicted, starting with Ryan’s early explosion.
“It would be one thing if you controlled the things you can control. But I don’t think we quite did that. That’s the story of the game for me. They came out and got a 15-point lead. I thought for us we took some tough shots and the tough shots led to run-outs in transition. Ryan sees the two 3s. He’s wide open and it all starts with bad possessions on offense, not being strong with the ball or taking some weak shots.”
Tyrese Proctor and Jared McCain largely kept Duke in the game in the opening half. Proctor wrapped himself around presumptive ACC Player of the Year R.J. Davis and barely let him breath. Twice Proctor jumped the route in the first half and finished with a layup. McCain hit a 3 to make it 33-24 and two foul shots to make it 37-28.
But the final 30 seconds of the first half was a disaster. Duke had the ball down 38-31, with 36 seconds left. Not able to run out the clock but close.
Proctor had a good look at a 3 with 11 seconds left, five on the shot clock, to cut the deficit to four.
But he missed. Harrison Ingram rebounded and pushed it up the court. Duke had a foul to give but nobody gave it. Ingram missed but Armando Bacot converted the rebound at the buzzer.
Instead of a possible four-point deficit, Duke trailed 40-31.
“At halftime, it’s gut-check time,” Scheyer said. “It’s a seven-point game and we don’t block out and they get a layup at the end of the half to make it nine.”
Kyle Filipowski scored only four points in the first half. But he willed Duke back into the game early in the second half. He scored eight points in the first 2:31 and Duke closed to 43-39.
Roach hit a 3 and it was 43-42. Duke got a stop and Roach attacked inside with a chance to give Duke its first lead of the game.
He was smothered. Ryan made two foul shots, Bacot got a three-point play, Jae-Lyn Withers converted an offensive rebound, Ryan scored in transition and it was 52-43, with 14:35 left.
Plenty of time to mount a comeback. But Duke needed to be pristine and Carolina needed to help and neither happened often enough.
Duke went on a 10-3 run to cut it to 82-79 with five seconds left but couldn’t get the steal and Ryan fittingly ended the scoring with two foul shots.
ACC Tournament next and Scheyer said his team still has lessons to learn.
“I told the team afterwards it would be one thing if we lost and weren’t good enough or something we can’t control. I feel like everything here is what we can control. This team can do it. We have to learn from this. We have to learn that a bad shots isn’t just a bad shot and it’s a 3 and they have momentum. This group has always responded and I think it’s going to be nothing different now.”
Duke will have to learn without Caleb Foster, who will not play next week.
Davis and Bacot ended with nine points apiece. But Carolina won the rebound battle 39-28, with Harrison Ingram grabbing 10 (14 points) and Withers grabbing eight off the bench in 11 minutes.
A visibly disappointed Roach--13 points, three assists but 3 for 12 from the field--tried to take blame for the loss but Scheyer was having none of it.
“We’re in this together. We win together, we lose together.”
McCain added 19 points, Proctor 15.
Filipowski led Duke with 23 points and seven rebounds and agreed with Scheyer that his team would respond the right way.
“We’re still one of the best teams in the country. Our team is not defined by UNC. Now it’s tournament time and we’re trying to put our self in the best position to succeed. Moving forward from this, it’s not the end of the world. Obviously, it’s a hard loss. But this post-season can definitely be ours if we take the right approach and keep the right mindset.”
Carolina came out and kicked us in the teeth and it took way too long for the team to recover and respond. Cormac Ryan was unbelievable.
I know this sounds like whining but Bacot gets away with too many fouls on both ends of the court.
All in all, a night of "almosts", where if we had gotten a stop here, or drained an open shot there, we might have put ourselves in position to win. Carolina's early breakout toned down our rabid crowd, and we were in catchup mode the next three and one-half quarters. Now to the ACC Tourney ...