Zion Williamson Injured, No. 8 UNC Blows Out No. 1 Duke 88-72
Zion Williamson’s injury doomed Duke from the start. The visiting University of North Carolina took advantage after the talented big man went down in the first 33 seconds of the game. The Tar Heels led by as many as 22 points, and eventually won 88-72.
Willamson attempted to make a cut, but his shoe blew out.
Zion’s Nike shoe rip in slo-mo pic.twitter.com/UYQuoDMxq5
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) February 21, 2019
Here’s a second angle:
Different angle of what happened to Zion pic.twitter.com/7sF6Jbt4Cl
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) February 21, 2019
The highly-touted freshman limped to the bench. Then, Williamson hobbled to the locker room, and he watched the game from the training room, per ESPN’s Maria Taylor.
After the game, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski announced Williamson had a mild knee sprain, and he will be re-evaluated tomorrow.
Within the first eight minutes, No. 8 UNC led 20-9. Without Williamson, Duke allowed a season-high 62 points in the paint.
No. 1 Duke just looked lost at times without Williamson, including a three-minute stretch in the second half where UNC went on a 13-0 run.
For nearly 28 minutes, only three players actually scored points for the Blue Devils. Overall, six players scored for Duke, but four combined for just 12 points.
Duke Freshmen, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish, were the only Blue Devils to score in double figures. Barrett led with a game-high 33 points, and Reddish was right behind with 27 points.
Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson shot a combined 62.5 percent (25-of-40) from the field. Maye and Johnson led the victorious Tar Heels in scoring with 30 and 26 points, respectively.
Notes:
- UNC finished with 20 assists on 38 made shots
- Duke never held a lead against UNC
- UNC shot 51 percent (38-of-75) while Duke shot just 35 percent (25-of-72)
- Both teams, not great from three; UNC shot 10 percent (2-for-20), Duke shot 21 percent (8-for-39)
