While the Nets tipped off Saturday night in Houston, the basketball world was looking elsewhere — at Tobacco Road, for Duke vs. North Carolina. They were watching the sport’s juiciest rivalry, a game that could produce five first-round picks — and the player most often mocked for the possibility that he will end up in Brooklyn.

Duke basketball is led by freshmen this season, and head coach Jon Scheyer is fine with it. The Blue Devils got a pair of fabulous performances from diaper dandies Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, in a win over North Carolina Saturday.

Freshmen Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel made memorable debuts in the Tobacco Road rivalry as No. 2 Duke used a dominant first half to secure an 87-70 win over visiting North Carolina on Saturday night in Durham,

Cooper Flagg went wild in the second half and Duke basketball survived a scare from N.C. State at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"Ummm, I don't really remember, but he seemed a little jacked up, a little nervous," Knueppel said after No. 2 Duke had smashed rival North Carolina, 87-70. "In warmups, I'm not t

At one point in the second half, Duke led North Carolina by 32 points and threatened to earn its biggest win in the Tobacco Road rivalry.