Cooper Flagg had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in his Duke-North Carolina rivalry debut to help the second-ranked Blue Devils beat the Tar Heels 87-70.

Duke’s dominant 87-70 win against North Carolina further cemented the Blue Devils’ status as one of the nation’s premier championship contenders. The Blue Zone discusses how much the victory really means for Duke’s chances of winning it all come March.

North Carolina entered the Duke rivalry game as the underdogs, but that didn't mean much. The Tar Heels had won three of the last four matchups at Cameron Indoor. However, this game came with different circumstances.

Duke’s defense — and Brown’s role in it — has been talked about at length all season. From the moment he entered the game and immediately came up with a steal, Brown’s active hands made life difficult for North Carolina ball handlers.

"Ummm, I don't really remember, but he seemed a little jacked up, a little nervous," Knueppel said after No. 2 Duke had smashed rival North Carolina, 87-70. "In warmups, I'm not t

It was never more clear than on Saturday night that the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels are a pair of programs heading into drastically different directions. An 87-70 win for the 2nd-ranked Blue Devils over their in-state rival wasn’t nearly as close as the final score indicated,