Garrison Brooks: "We've Got to Keep Our Foot on the Gas"

UNC led most of the way in the first game against Duke before fading late and losing in overtime. It was one of several late-game leads the Tar Heels have blown this season.

Forward Garrison Brooks said the team needs to finish things off in the rematch with the Blue Devils.

“They’re a really good team,” he said. “We’ve just got to basically keep our foot on the gas and just play the whole game.”

Fellow forward Armando Bacot fouled out late in the first game, and Duke’s comeback was spurred by a pair of crucial offensive rebounds. With Bacot nursing a sprained ankle, he may miss the rematch as well.

“It’s huge not having him out there,” Brooks said. “The guy averages eight-nine rebounds … I’ll say eight … Nine’s too much. He’s a guy that’s always going to rebound the ball, really rebound. I think it would help having him out there. I think biggest emphasis now that we playing small (without him) is we all go to the boards and emphasize boxing out more. It helps us as a team.”

Brooks seemed to think having Bacot miss time helped the team’s rebounding.

“Basically, it makes you fundamentally sound,” he explained. “Everybody’s going to box out, regardless. Now you think about it, everybody’s going to box out with Armando out there, it helps more.”

Brooks has a streak of three straight 25 point games, the first Tar Heel since Tyler Hansbrough to do that.

“He's the greatest Tar Heel ever,” Brooks said. “I think it’s good to kind of be up there with him. I know I’m not there yet, but it’s something really cool to be a part of. I remember my freshman year, there were like 10 games where I didn’t score 25 points (total).”

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