The ball belonged in his hands. You’d think it had to.
For the entirety of Wednesday’s first half and the opening minutes of the second, Brice Johnson turned the North Carolina-Duke game into his own exhibition.
A double-double in the first half? He accomplished it effortlessly. Seemingly unstoppable? He appeared so.
But as the clock wound down, the magic wore off.
After electrifying the Smith Center crowd for much of the night, Johnson attempted two shots in the final 17 minutes of play, negating his 29-point, 19-rebound performance in a 74-73 loss to the Blue Devils.