No. 9 Duke rolls past UNC in Coach K’s Chapel Hill finale

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) — Freshman A.J. Griffin scored a season-high 27 points to help No. 9 Duke roll past rival North Carolina 87-67 on Saturday night in retiring Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final visit to Chapel Hill.

The Blue Devils shot 58% and took all drama out of the renewal of the famed rivalry early in both halves, both in building a big lead and then stretching it back out after the Tar Heels had made a run to climb back in it.

The win allowed Duke (19-3, 9-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) to send Krzyzewski off with a 17th and final victory in the Smith Center, where he coached against the Tar Heels in its opening game in January 1986.

Brady Manek scored 21 points to lead the Tar Heels (16-7, 8-4), who had won four straight games and swept last season’s rivalry series. But in first-year coach Hubert Davis’ head-coaching debut in the rivalry, UNC never recovered from a horrid start that included top post threat Armando Bacot picking up two quick fouls and Duke seemingly unable to miss and more than capable of muffling a rowdy crowd.

The boos cascaded down from the blue-clad fans for Krzyzewski, both as he emerged from the visiting tunnel before the game and then as his ninth-ranked Blue Devils were introduced for starting lineups.

But Duke rolled to a 31-8 lead, then rode a star-level performance from Griffin — a freshman who missed most of his last two high school seasons due to injury. He had 13 points before halftime then put on a show to start the second half with his own 10-0 run that featured two 3s -- one of which had him dribbling between his legs to freeze Manek before burying it from in front of the Duke bench.

By the time Griffin scored over Manek on an off-balance drive, Duke had stretched the