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Duke Basketball: Takeaways from Senior Night victory over North Carolina

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 07: Justin Robinson #50 of the Duke Blue Devils fouls Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 07, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 89-76. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 07: Justin Robinson #50 of the Duke Blue Devils fouls Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the second half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 07, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 89-76. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 07: Vernon Carey Jr. #1, Tre Jones #3 and Justin Robinson #50 of the Duke Blue Devils (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)

1. Justin Robinson steps up big-time on Senior Night

Justin Robinson was named a captain before the season and it can obviously be tough for a player with leadership responsibilities to not be seeing the floor. Despite that, Robinson came in and by all accounts, practiced hard and generally stayed ready for when in his number was called. He played a career-high 6.8 minutes per game this season but over the last three contests (including Saturday’s game), Robinson has played 18.0 minutes per game and contributed to a stretch in which Duke has gone 2-1. But Saturday was unequivocally his best performance of the season.

https://twitter.com/cassius_stanley/status/1236674289564336129

On Senior Night, with his NBA Hall of Fame father in attendance, “Baby Admiral” played a career-high 25 minutes in his first-ever start. He helped set the tone on defense, collecting 4 blocks and a steal, helping the Blue Devils turn defense into offense.

https://twitter.com/theACCDN/status/1236458134153068545

Robinson—who is shooting 42.9% from 3-point range this season—made a massive impact on Saturday night. The North Carolina bigs are not the most fleet of foot, so Robinson’s pick-and-pop ability was excellent in stretching out the Tar Heeld defense. On the season, Robbinson is averaging 1.4 attempts per game from 3-point range.

But on Saturday he was efficient on decently high volume, knocking down 4-of-6 from 3-point range, finishing with13 points. Robinson didn’t just contribute with the points and blocks. He also chipped in 6 rebounds and 3 assists. The Duke Blue Devils wouldn’t have been able to pick up their season sweep of North Carolina without the contributions of Mr. Robinson.