Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images
The Blue Devils started the second half with a seven-point lead and all the momentum in the world, scoring 41 of the final 64 points before the break. Instead of putting more distance between themselves and Auburn, however, the Tigers closed within two with 7:04 on the clock to create a coin-flip situation once again.
Part of that comes with the territory of playing another championship-caliber team. These games always produce miniature runs, and it’s much harder than it sounds to put a team like Auburn away. However, it feels fair to put a non-zero part of that on the Blue Devils almost hitting a reset button despite early success.
Evans, after scoring 18 points in 11 minutes in the first, took one shot and played five minutes in the second. Caleb Foster, the only other Blue Devil with at least three made field goals in the first half, played just six minutes. Flagg took 10 of the team’s 27 second-half shots, and if you include the second half against Kansas, he’s taken 10 more shots than any other Blue Devil. While he’s unequivocally the team’s best player, and that strategy worked well enough to win on Wednesday, falling back to it in a game he started two-for-eight felt like a strategic question mark.
