Heading into his last game at Duke, Grayson Allen is 'just trying to win'

Just 15 miles down the road from here on Wednesday night, North Carolina senior guard Joel Berry had just tied the Tar Heels' game against Miami with four seconds left. Berry and senior wing Theo Pinson had helped their team come back after being down by 16. If they could win , their senior night would be complete.

But Miami’s Ja’Quan Newton didn’t let that happen. He dribbled the ball to just past midcourt, and hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to beat the Tar Heels 91-88.

Duke’s Grayson Allen saw that ending. And he’s hoping his senior night at Cameron Indoor Stadium will be different when No. 5 Duke (24-6, 12-5 ACC) hosts No. 9 UNC (22-8, 11-6) 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, coming off of a 64-63 loss to Virginia Tech, lost to UNC 82-78 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 8, the first time the two teams met this season. In that game, 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 its past six games. Its last game, however, that loss to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Feb. 26, ended on a Hokies' game-winning tip-in at the buzzer. y Against Virginia Tech, Duke turned the ball over 18 times, one shy of a season high.

Three of those turnovers occurred in the final 1:33 of 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. As a freshman, Allen was part of Duke's national championship team. During Allens' sophomore year, he was an All-American. He’s hit game-winning shots. He scored 37 points against Michigan State earlier this season. He was also the third Duke player to be an 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 after tripping Elon's Steven Santa Ana on Dec. 21, 2016.

“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.”

This season, Allen helped lead Duke to the second best record in the ACC. A win over UNC on Saturday will give Duke a No. 2 seed in next week's ACC tournament. A loss will put Duke at the No. 3 seed, and the Tar Heels at the No. 2 seed.

Not only will it be Allen’s final game, it will also be the last Duke home game for several freshmen who are expected to head to the NBA draft.

But at the end of Saturday's game, only Allen - on his senior night - will get to speak to the crowd about his time at Duke.

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.”

UNC at Duke

When: 8:15 p.m., Saturday

Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham

TV: ESPN

This story was originally published March 2, 2018 at 5:38 PM with the headline "Heading into his last game at Duke, Grayson Allen is 'just trying to win'."