0302bkcdukeuncallen
Just 15 miles down the road from here on Wednesday night, North Carolina senior guard Joel Berry had just tied the game at 88 against Miami with four seconds left. Berry and senior wing Theo Pinson had helped their team come back down 16 points. And if they could win in overtime, their senior night would be complete.
But Miami’s Ja’Quan Newton didn’t let that happen. He dribbled the ball nearly the length of the court, and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Tar Heels 91-88.
Duke’s Grayson Allen saw that ending. He’s hoping his senior night at Cameron Indoor Stadium will go a little different when No. 5 Duke (24-6, 12-5 ACC) plays No. 9 UNC (22-8, 11-6 ACC) on Saturday.
“I’m trying to win,” Allen said. “I think you remember your senior night for your win or loss, not how many points you’re going to score...We need to win. Not only for my senior night but for our team. We don’t want to end the regular season with two straight losses.”
Duke lost to UNC 82-78 the first time these two teams played in Chapel Hill on Feb. 8. The Blue Devils’ had the lead in the first half, but gave up too many offensive rebounds (20), and second chance points.
But since then, Duke has won five out the last six games. Its last game, however, was a 64-63 loss to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Monday. The Hokies won on a game-winning shot too. Duke had turned the ball over 18 times, which was one shy of a season high.
Three of those turnovers occurred in the final 1:33 left in the game.
“Well it’s pretty obvious, especially when you saw it on tape,” Allen said. “Anybody watching the game saw that we didn’t handle the last minute and a half well. From an offensive foul on my part, to a turnover on my part, to not stopping the ball when they brought it back down, to having two guys flying to a shot and nobody crashing the defensive rebound. And then at the end, not making free throws.”
“If we get in that position again, we’ve got to hold on to the lead and win the game,” he added.
Allen is Duke’s lone senior and it will be his last game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, a place that he has played his best games.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski joked that he would shed a tear “only privately” when Allen makes a speech at the end of the game.
“No, I don’t know,” he said. “I get pretty emotional. I love my guys. And I’m not saying I’m the only coach who does. But I do. We have good guys. Grayson has been a good guy.”
Allen has been Duke’s most scrutinized player since J.J. Redick – and to some degree deservedly so. He’s had his ups and downs in his four years at Duke. During his freshman season he won a national championship. During his sophomore year, he was an All-American. He’s hit game-winning shots. He scored 37 points on Michigan State earlier this season. He was also the third Duke player to be a four-time Academic All-ACC player.
There aren’t many players who have accomplished that, Krzyzewski said.
But Allen will also be remember for his downs. He tripped three people during his sophomore and junior seasons. He was suspended for a game, and was stripped of his captain status.
“He’s been the most public guy in college sports,” Krzyzewski said. “The most scrutinized guy, by far. And how do you handle all that. How would you handle it. Watch every move.”
“He’s a happy kid. I know he’s proud of what he’s done this year, and what he still wants to do.”
Since then, Allen helped lead Duke to the second best record in the ACC. A win will give Duke a No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament next week. A loss will give them a No. 3 seed, and the Tar Heels a No. 2 seed.
Not only will it be Allen’s final game. But it will also be some of the other freshman who will likely enter the draft after the season. But at the end of the game, only Allen will get on the microphone and say a few words to the crowd about his time at Duke. It’s what many seniors players do across the country at their senior nights.
Allen said he hasn’t thought about what he’ll say. He won’t have anything written or prepared. Whatever it is, he said, it’ll be from the heart.
“It’ll be easy,” he said. “Just be open and honest.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 5:56 PM with the headline "0302bkcdukeuncallen."