Kon Knueppel, Cooper Flagg help the Duke to pull the rival UNC, the title Clinch Acc

Freshman Kon Knueppel scored 17 points for help no. 2 Duke beat the rival North Carolina 82-69 on Saturday night and look back at the Atlantic Coast Conference Conference.

Cooper flagg 15 points were added, nine rebounds and six assists despite the trouble from the first half for the blue devils (28-3, 19-1).

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Duke blew the lead of 15 points in the first half and found himself seven in the middle of the break after a break, but answered with 12 consecutive points to turn the game and silence the cunning enemy crowd.

Blue devils are now in a position to rise to the number 1 on Monday, AP Top 25 survey, and the best ranked Auburn by losing their last two games.

Five -year -old elderly RJ Davis He scored 20 points in his last home game for Tar Heels (20-12), who fired in the first meeting, but responded this time with far higher resistance before Duke claimed control to expire the lead in the last seven minutes.

Taket

Duke: Final Four Favorite ended the first board in the regular part of the season 19-1 since the ACC moved to 20 games in 2019-20.

UNC: Tar Heels won six straight in their best game in the season to get back to better positioning for NCAA. But this was their last safe opportunity to add to the CV to help the case.

A key moment

Unc led 59-53 when Duke went with 12 straight points in a bang 15-2, which put blue devils forward to stay. This included Knueppel’s rear schedule for leadership while a versatile defender Maliq Brown He had a big 3-poen on his return from an injury that pushed Duke to a 68-61 lead with the remaining 8 1/2 minute.

Key stature

UNC missed 22 of its last 27 shots in the last 15 minutes, while Duke started.

Up the following

The ACC tournament begins on Tuesday in Charlotte. Duke opens the game as 1 carrier in the quarterfinals on Thursday. UNC is 5 seeds and will play on Wednesday in the second round.

Associated press reporting.

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