Nicole Auerbach

USA TODAY Sports

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Injury-depleted, 19th-ranked Duke rallied past No. 4 North Carolina 74-73 late Wednesday night at the Dean E. Smith Center. What the game showed:

1. Duke now owns one of the most impressive wins of the season.

It’s not necessarily because it was against No. 4 North Carolina, but because of how the Blue Devils did it — with, essentially, just five players playing the entire game due to Matt Jones’ first-half injury. There were two substitutions in the second half – Chase Jeter in for Marshall Plumlee when he got his fourth foul, and Plumlee back in for Jeter. That was it.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski has essentially played a six-man rotation with small forward Amile Jefferson out, and now he’s down to five in his regular rotation. Somehow, despite the fact Carolina loves to push the ball in transition and attacked frequently, Duke did not tire. Freshman star Brandon Ingram was particularly terrific down the stretch, and the Blue Devils took the lead for good on a Grayson Allen free throw with 1:09 to play.

2. The Matt Jones injury could prove costly for the Blue Devils long-term.

Toward the end of the first half, Jones drove to the basket, leapt and landed awkwardly on the side of his left ankle. He was helped off the court without putting any weight on his left foot and did not re-enter the game.

Matt Jones injures ankle vs. North Carolina to make Duke's roster thinner

Though the extent of his left ankle injury is unknown — and how long it might keep him sidelined is uncertain — it could be quite damaging for an already-thin Duke roster. If Jones is out for a significant period of time, this could be a huge problem any time any starter gets in foul trouble, like Plumlee did, picking up his fourth foul with 14 minutes to play — which forced Krzyzewski to play Chase Jeter, who averaged just 4.5 minutes per game during ACC play previously. Krzyzewski ended up riding Plumlee anyway, and somehow he didn’t foul out. But playing five guys is not going to work every night, both in terms of foul trouble and also general stamina.

3. The Tar Heels abandoned Brice Johnson when they should have simply fed him over and over again.

Johnson had notched a double-double by halftime and ended the night with 29 points and 19 rebounds. Yet he barely touched the ball in the latter part of the second half, despite the fact he’d dominated the paint all night and was mostly going up against a slower big man — Plumlee — in serious foul trouble.

The UNC guards didn’t feed Johnson and instead settled for a lot of ill-advised jumpers late that clanged out. Though UNC played perhaps its best half of the season in the first half, dominating the offensive glass and in transition, it couldn’t pull away in the second half. Shooting 1-for-13 from three for the game didn’t help, either.

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