TV ratings soar in first Tobacco Road rivalry meeting of season
The first meeting between in-state rivals UNC and Duke may not have been as close as viewers had hoped, but the television ratings tell a much different story.
Duke, which was fast out the gates but saw a substantial first-half lead dwindle as a result of a UNC comeback, still managed to rebound in the second half. The Blue Devils managed to emerge by an 87-67 final on the road; in truth, after Duke’s second-half rebound, the game was hardly close — but that didn’t matter to viewers, who still tuned into the game in record fashion.
Duke-UNC was the second most-watched men’s college basketball game of the 2021-22 season, totaling 2.19 million viewers. Not only was it a top-performing game in the 2021-22 season, but it was a number to remember in the rivalry, too — Duke and UNC had not reached viewership numbers that high since March 2020, just weeks before the college basketball world was put on hold due to COVID-19.
Mike Krzyzewski reveals halftime speech following North Carolina’s first-half run
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski walked out of North Carolina for the last time as a winner, thanks to an 87-67 beatdown of the in-state rival Tar Heels, but it didn’t always look that pretty for the Blue Devils.
Duke had jumped out to a quick first-half lead, but after holding a lead as large as 19-5 — and shortly thereafter, 31-8 — the Blue Devils squandered a bit. The final 10 minutes of the first half saw Duke score just seven more points, while the Tar Heels put up another 20; all of a sudden, Krzyzewski’s squad, which once looked on pace for a historic beatdown, was leading just 39-28 at the half.
Krzyzewski delivered a halftime message, and Duke responded to the tune of a strong start to the second half, eventually emerging as 20-point victors.
“There are no magical socks,” Krzyzewski said, when asked what he said to reverse the trend heading into halftime. “I just told them, ‘We won the first 12 (minutes), they won the next eight. If we start out the first four like we did the last eight, they’re going to beat us. But if we start out the first four like we did the first 12, then we’re going to win. And in our really good games, we’ve come out well in the second half.”
The final score should say it all. Saturday was, in fact, one of those “really good games,” and Duke came out hot in the second half.
The Blue Devils were paced by AJ Griffin, who scored 27 points on 11-of-17 from the field, while Paolo Banchero had 13 points, 10 rebounds and two assists. Wendell Moore Jr. had a terrific showing, too, as the Duke forward stuffed the stat sheet with 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, coupled with eight rebounds, five assists and two steals.
“Tonight, we came out great,” Krzyzewski said of the second half. “When we played defense, our defensive rebounding was excellent. … They (UNC) didn’t turn it over, we had stops there, too.”
With the win, Duke improved to 19-3 overall and 9-2 in the ACC, giving them both the best overall and conference record in the ACC, leading Notre Dame by half a game. The Blue Devils have amassed a five-game win streak, while UNC continues to fall slightly short of expectations, as they have now dropped their record to 16-7 overall and 8-4 in conference play.
Krzyzewski’s Duke team, now ranked No. 9, is next set to face Virginia at home on Monday night at 7:00 p.m. ET.