LOOK: North Carolina legend Tyler Hansbrough takes shot at Duke after Round of 32 loss to Tennessee
Duke fans will surely be quick to point out that North Carolina didn’t make the NCAA Tournament at all, but that won’t deter Tyler Hansbrough, one of the greatest Tar Heel basketball players ever, from having some fun at his rivals expense. And he did just that after Duke fell to Tennessee in the Round of 32 on Saturday.
Following a 65-52 win for the Volunteers, Hansbrough took to Twitter to locate the wound. His mission? Add salt. And he picked a pretty good visual.
Hansbrough’s captionless tweet is just a gif of the “I will give my all for Tennessee today” sign that football players touch heading to the field at Neyland Stadium.
Plenty petty for one of the best rivalries in all of sports. And again, Duke fans will surely not let North Carolina fans forget who actually made the NCAA Tournament this season.
Unfortunately for Duke fans, though, Hansbrough isn’t the only one having some fun at their expense. Boston Celtic forward Grant Williams got in on the schadenfreude, too. Not to mention that Williams is also a former Tennessee star.
The former Tennessee star got to have a little fun at the expense of a Celtic teammate and former Duke star: Jayson Tatum. Either right after the Volunteers toppled the Blue Devils, 65-52, or in the late stages of the victory, Williams posted a quick video of a subdued Tatum.
“F*ck Duke,” Williams said in the video as it pans in on Tatum.
It appears for a moment that Tatum considered retorting before thinking better of it. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses. Instead, the All-Star wing just gives a playful nod. A tough break for Tatum as Williams can claim bragging rights at least until Duke and Tennessee meet again.
And a tough break for a Duke program that was playing as hot as any team in the country entering the NCAA Tournament.
It was a really tough day for Duke on the court, too, as the Blue Devils scored a program-low 52 points in an NCAA Tournament game. Duke converted fewer than 50% of its field goal attempts and made just six 3s while shooting a paltry 27.3% beyond the arc.
And while Duke struggled to score, Tennessee’s Olivier Nkamhoua tied his career-high for scoring with 27 points.
Altogether, a day Duke and its fans will be happy to forget.