CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 05: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski talks with Wendell Moore Jr. #0 of the Duke Blue Devils during the second half of their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean E. Smith Center on February 05, 2022 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Duke won 87-67. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils had a ton of fun beating the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. Now the college basketball world is sounding off.
The North Carolina Tar Heels didn’t have much fun Saturday evening.
In what was Duke Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final game in Chapel Hill, the Blue Devils came in and beat the snot out of the Tar Heels. In a very lopsided affair, Duke ended up winning 87-67.
North Carolina was expected to do something that at least resembled making this game competitive and they did not do that. The Tar Heels were blown out and a huge contributing factor for that was how they fell behind early.
Duke is simply operating on a very different level than North Carolina right now.
And now, the college basketball world is sounding off on Duke’s massive victory over North Carolina.
Duke basketball routs UNC in Chapel Hill: College basketball media reactions
This win definitely bodes well for Duke’s prospects for the remainder of the season. To soundly beat a pretty good (but definitely not great) North Carolina team shows how much potential the Blue Devils have this year.
Not recency bias. One of the most enjoyable wins over UNC I’ve ever seen in my life as a Duke fan. Wire to wire beatdown and left them on the bubble. That was awesome.
— The Brotherhood (@BrotherhoodCBB) February 6, 2022
Duke beats UNC in Chapel Hill by 20.
UNC has now lost 5 of its 7 games by at least 17 points.
Tennesse – 17
Duke – 20
Wake – 22
Miami – 28
Kentucky – 29
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 6, 2022
This game should have been more competitive. Everyone wanted this game to be more competitive. Duke showed up to compete and play at a high level. North Carolina just kinda showed up.
Duke runs North Carolina off the floor, in the least interesting Duke-Carolina game I can remember.
UNC is now 16-7, with zero wins against teams that are definite NCAA Tournament teams.
Still think Carolina made a big mistake not doing a real search before hiring Hubert Davis
— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) February 6, 2022
Duke now up 31-8 at UNC.
No, this series doesn’t always deliver. …
— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanHoops) February 5, 2022
It would appear that Duke did not go to Chapel Hill to play games.
— Myron Medcalf (@MedcalfByESPN) February 5, 2022
Now, as Duke looks like a team that is capable of competing for a national championship, North Carolina doesn’t really look like a team that can compete in the NCAA Tournament. It’s not even a sure thing for the Tar Heels to make the tournament with the way their resume currently looks.
“This is a tournament team. North Carolina’s going to make the NCAA Tournament.”—Bilas.
Well …
Lost to Purdue by nine.
Lost to Tennessee by 17.
Lost to Kentucky by 29.
Lost to Miami by 28.
Lost to Wake Forest by 18.
Down at home to Duke by 25+.
No Q1 wins.
Pretty rough.
— Matt Norlander (@MattNorlander) February 6, 2022
North Carolina now has four 20-point losses since Dec. 18 and the Tar Heels have allowed 89.7 points in their seven losses this season.
— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) February 6, 2022
The Tar Heels will need to get back to winning to solidify their resume and hope for the best possible situation as the season starts to wind down.
