Mike Krzyzewski walked onto the court at North Carolina for the last time as a coach on Saturday. He walked off with a huge win.
No. 9 Duke cruised to an easy win over North Carolina in Krzyzewski's last road game against his conference foe, coming out on top 87-67. Krzyzewski plans to retire at the end of the season.
According to ESPN Stats & Info, it was Duke's fourth-largest win on the road against North Carolina since the inception of the ACC (1953-54 season), and the second-biggest margin of victory under Krzyzewski. It was also the second time in the last 20 years that Duke beat North Carolina on the road while never trailing.
Duke's dominance in Chapel Hill Saturday is on a short list of victories. pic.twitter.com/1U7xD9W3KG
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 6, 2022
The Blue Devils jumped out early and never looked back; they went up 8-2 in the first 76 seconds of the game and led 15-5 at the first media timeout. They continued to keep their foot on the throttle, jumping out to a 31-10 advantage by the time the Tar Heels had crossed the double-digit threshold.
North Carolina battled back to cut the lead to just 11 at halftime, but Duke kept the Heels at an arm's length for the entire game. The Blue Devils won the second half by nine to make sure Coach K's final road game of the rivalry ended with an emphatic win.
Leading the way was freshman A.J. Griffin, who paced all scorers with 27 points. Per ESPN Stats & Info, it was the third-most points ever by a Blue Devil in his first game against North Carolina under Krzyzewski, trailing only R.J. Barrett (33) and Austin Rivers (29).
Star freshman Paolo Banchero finished with 13 points and led all players with 10 rebounds. Wendell Moore Jr. added 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Brady Manek led North Carolina with 21 points and six rebounds. Armando Bacot logged 12 points and five rebounds as well.
What a night for A.J. Griffin and the Blue Devils.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 6, 2022
Duke won without trailing (only the 2nd time in the last 20 seasons that Duke did that at UNC, and 1st since 2013). pic.twitter.com/liTuYFrz88
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