Duke Cruises Past North Carolina, 87-70

Saturday, February 1

Durham, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

Duke University

19-2,11-0ACC

North Carolina

13-10,6-5ACC

North Carolina

Duke

Duke Cruises Past North Carolina, 87-70

2/1/2025 9:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Coach Scheyer Presser Highlights Duke Quotes (PDF)Opponent Quotes (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Photo Gallery

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 2 Duke scored 16 unanswered in the opening minutes and never looked back, defeating rival North Carolina 87-70 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 1. The Blue Devils (19-2, 11-0 ACC) tallied double-digit scoring runs of 16 and 11 in the first half, taking a lead as large as 27, 40-13, in the opening 20 minutes. The Tar Heels (13-10, 6-5 ACC) posted a 18-of-28 (.643) shooting performance following the halftime break, but never got closer than 16, 79-63, in the second half.

Four Blue Devils finished in double-figures, led by 20-point games from the freshman duo of Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg , who scored 22 and 21, respectively. Tyrese Proctor added 17, while Sion James rounded out the double-digit scoring by matching his season high of 13.

Flagg added game highs for rebounds (8), assists (7) and steals (3), while also blocking two shots, and Knueppel ended the contest with five boards and five assists to go with his game-high 22 points. On the defensive end, the Blue Devils swiped 10 steals, their most in a game since tallying 10 against George Mason on Dec. 17, en route to 14 total takeaways.

With the win, Duke extended its winning streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the nation. The last time the Blue Devils had a win streak of at least 15 games was at the start of the 2012-13 campaign, when Duke won its first 15 games of the season. Saturday marked the 263rd all-time meeting between Duke and North Carolina, with Duke leading 57-52 when in Durham, including a 48-40 ledger in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The 17-point margin of victory is the largest Duke win in the rivalry at Cameron Indoor Stadium since head coach Jon Scheyer's senior night, an 82-50 victory for Duke on March 6, 2010.

HOW IT HAPPENED

A slam dunk from Sion James, 10 seconds into the contest, opened the scoring. Cooper Flagg got his first points less than two minutes later, drilling a corner three-pointer. Back-to-back buckets from the Tar Heels pulled the visitors within one, 7-6, before a Tyrese Proctor triple pushed Duke back in front by multiple possessions.
Proctor slammed home a fast-break dunk and Flagg connected on his second make from deep, giving the Blue Devils a 15-6 edge and forcing a North Carolina timeout. A three-point-play from Flagg, followed by five points from Kon Knueppel, made it 16 straight points for the Blue Devils.
Duke continued its surge, taking its largest lead of the night so far, 34-13, courtesy of a Khaman Maluach layup with 8:51 on the clock. Another extended scoring run, this time 11 unanswered, increased the margin to 27, 40-13, shortly before the final media timeout of the first half. The visitors added five quick points, narrowing the deficit to just 22, 40-18, with just under three minutes before intermission.
A fadeaway jumper from Flagg at the first-half buzzer gave the freshman 13 points and sent Duke into the locker room with a 47-25 lead. Knueppel opened the second half with a two-hand stuff, followed by a three-pointer, giving Duke its third double-digit scorer. Knueppel scored nine of Duke's first 13 second-half points and the Blue Devils led by 26, 60-34, at the first media break of the second stanza.
Three consecutive made baskets, capped by a James dunk, sent the game to the under-12 timeout with Duke ahead by 29, 71-42. Flagg reached the 20-point threshold with two free throws at the 6:57 mark, inching Duke back ahead by 27, 79-52.
Six quick points by the visitors triggered a Duke timeout with 4:46 remaining. The Tar Heel scoring run reached 11 before Knueppel ended a four-minute scoring drought with two free throws. Late buckets from Maliq Brown and Proctor helped Duke maintain a lead near 20 points, before a North Carolina layup with a second remaining established the final margin of 87-70.

NOTES

Duke's 17-point triumph is the largest margin of victory over the Tar Heels in Durham since an 82-50 (+32) win on Jon Scheyer's senior night on March 6, 2010.
Duke extended its winning streak to 15 games, matching the longest winning streak since the Blue Devils won 15 consecutive games to begin the 2012-13 season.
The 15-game winning streak is the longest active stretch in the country.
Saturday marked the 263rd meeting between Duke and North Carolina. The Blue Devils now lead the series, 57-52, when playing Durham, including a 48-40 ledger at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The 263 games played against North Carolina makes the Tar Heels the most frequently played Duke opponent, ahead of the 262 games played against Wake Forest and 257 against NC State.
With the victory, Duke improved to 11-0 in ACC play. The last time a Duke team won its first 11 conference games was during the 2005-06 season, when the Blue Devils began the ACC slate with 14 consecutive wins.
The second-ranked Blue Devils are now 308-92 (.770) in ACC regular-season games when ranked as a top-five team in the country.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer improved to 73-20 (.785) at the helm of the program, including a 44-3 (.936) record in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils dished 20 assists on 28 field goals on Saturday. Duke has now tallied 20 or more assists five times this season.
Duke accumulated 10 steals against the Tar Heels, the most thefts against an ACC foe this season and the sixth time the Blue Devils collected double-digit steals in a game in 2024-25.
Duke held the Tar Heels to just 25 points in the first half, their lowest first-half output of the season.
Cooper Flagg amassed 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocked shots, becoming just the third Blue Devil to record at least 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists in the rivalry series with North Carolina, joining Danny Ferry (20p-9r-9a, March 6, 1988) and Trey Jones (22p-7r-8a, Feb. 18, 2015).
Flagg netted 20-plus points for the 12th time this season. The Blue Devils own an 11-1 record in those contests.
Kon Knueppel erupted for a game-high 22 points with five boards, five assists, two steals and a rejection.
Saturday marked Knueppel's third time with 20 points or more this season, and the fifth time as the Blue Devils' leading scorer.
Knueppel shot-2-of-4 from behind the arc against the Tar Heels. Duke is now 16-0 when the freshman connects on two or more three-pointers.
Tyrese Proctor shot 5-of-10 from the field, including 2-of-5 from distance, and an unblemished 5-of-5 from the free-throw line, resulting in 17 points.
Proctor's 14th double-figure scoring output of the season and 51st of his Duke career, was complimented by three assists and a pair of caroms.
Sion James rounded out Duke's four double-figure scorers with 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor and was perfect on his four free throws.
Maliq Brown made his return to the Duke lineup after missing four games with an injury, making his defensive prowess known with two steals and adding two points, three rebounds and two assists.

QUOTES

"First, I just want to thank our fans. It was such an incredible environment tonight. I thought our guys really helped with the defense and how we played on that end, it got the crowd going. From the get-go, you could just feel a special environment and it's credit to all the students; I'm really thankful for that. The defense was great. They missed some shots, but I thought the talk and the switching was terrific. It's a game that was calling for Maliq Brown. It really was. He comes in and on the first play, he comes up with the ball and we get something from it. And then, Sion [James] and Tyrese [Proctor], their defense is so good. They're guarding everybody on the floor. I thought what they did really helped tonight. Kon [Knueppel] was just a man. Kon just made play after play, big baskets. [Cooper Flagg] was Coop. Proud of this win, proud of the effort." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
"It was an incredible game, incredible atmosphere. The students really brought it tonight, so it was just really fun to be able to play in front of them and get the win. I thought it was a great start. We came out with really good energy. The building was jumping. Something Coach [Jon Scheyer] stressed to us was that this is just another game, but you could definitely feel a different energy in the gym tonight. It was definitely a little different." - Duke freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg
"It was awesome – awesome to get there in front of the fans and have my family out there watching and get a win. I think it's really difficult [to beat this Duke team] if we can deflect the ball that many times. Our defense is always going to spark our offense, and that's what we want to hang our hats on at that end of the floor. I thought we were really intentional about being sharp offensively, meeting our passes, not turning the ball over as much, and I think that's what led to the success tonight." - Duke guard/forward Kon Knueppel

UP NEXT

No. 2 Duke hits the road for its next conference game, traveling to Syracuse on Wednesday, Feb. 5. The Blue Devils (19-2, 11-0 ACC) and Orange (10-12, 4-7 ACC) will tip off at 7 p.m., on ESPN2, at the JMA Wireless Dome.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMBB".

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