DURHAM -- The effort was there for North Carolina.
But the Tar Heels jumpers couldn’t solidify on Saturday night against Duke.
No. 9 North Carolina shot 37 percent, its worst shooting percentage since Jan. 6 against Virginia, in the 74-64 loss to No. 5 Duke.
The poor percentage was especially frustrating for a team that had shot higher than 40 percent in 13 of its last 14 games and more than 50 percent in three of its last five.
“I think some aliens crawled up in my guys’ bodies in the second half,” Coach Roy Williams of UNC said. “That wasn’t the North Carolina team that you’ve seen all year and that wasn’t the North Carolina team that I love.”
Really, in the beginning, neither team could hit anything. After the first 12-plus minutes, both teams were shooting 33 percent with little offensive flow. Cam Johnson provided UNC’s earliest attempt at a scoring punch by responding to a Duke 3-pointer with a 3 of his own and a breakaway dunk on UNC’s next possess for a 12-12 tie.
Johnson would score five more points later in the first half to guide UNC to a five-point lead with 3:56 remaining. That margin ballooned to 10 points by halftime.
But that was as good as things got for UNC.
The Tar Heels mirrored its first-half shooting performance -- 38.2 percent in the first to 36.1 percent in the second -- while Duke took off. The Blue Devils pulled close halfway through the second before leaving the Tar Heels behind.
“At halftime, we spent a good amount of time with them and I just said ‘Look, take the piano’s off your back, quit playing with all the pressure in the world, get a smile on your face. Just play,’” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “‘I said I’m not going to call any plays. Hit, cut, everybody touch the ball, you see a play to make, you make the play and get comfortable.
“And they did that, and we could see them do that.”
Duke outscored UNC, 26-14, in the final 10:16. Making matters worse was the Tar Heels’ inability to draw fouls. UNC shot only five free throws overall.
Johnson finished by making 5 of his 17 shots. Joey Berry was 3 for 11. Theo Pinson was the only UNC starter to shoot higher than 50 percent from the field (60 percent.)
As his players’ open shots continued to falter, Williams watched Duke’s Trevon Duval, who’s hit only 27.4 percent of his long-range shots, hit a 3-pointer in the second half. Soon after, Marvin Bagley nailed one too.
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels shot 31 3-pointers in the game, hitting only eight.
“All of a sudden, things started snowballing on us,” Williams said. “It’s a strange feeling, but I think what you have to do is congratulate Duke.
“They seemed go make every play that they needed to make.”