UNC holds off Duke basketball’s rally to win rivalry showdown
Neither team is nationally ranked but rivals Duke and North Carolina delivered their usual ultra-competitive game on Saturday night.
Behind a game-high 25 points from freshman guard Caleb Love, the Tar Heels led by as many as 12 in the second half only to see Duke rally to tie in the final minutes.
But the Tar Heels hit five of six free throws in the final minute, with Love hitting the first two, and held off the Blue Devils 91-87 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Love hit his career-high in points while also handing out seven assists.
“He did some really good things,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “Hit some really big shots for us and made a couple of big free throws down the stretch as well.”
UNC (12-6, 7-4 ACC) led 62-50 with 13:44 to play before Duke (7-7, 5-5 ACC) fought back to tie the game twice. The final time came on freshman forward Jalen Johnson’s dunk with 3:54 left that knotted the score at 79.
Love’s basket, followed by a pair of Armando Bacot free throws with 3:14 left, gave UNC an 83-79 lead.
Duke failed to score on its next two possessions: Joey Baker’s missed 3-pointer and, with 2:11 left, Baker’s turnover.
Love’s 3-pointer with 1:54 left extended UNC’s lead to 86-79.
The Tar Heels couldn’t put Duke away though. Wendell Moore scored for the Blue Devils and, after a Love turnover, Roach’s basket with 1:21 left sliced the UNC lead to 86-83.
Love hit two free throws with 58 seconds left to give UNC some breathing room. But Moore rebounded Jeremy Roach’s missed 3-pointer to score with 46 seconds left.
Brooks’ layup was blocked by Johnson with 21 seconds left and DJ Steward hit a layup with 17 seconds left cutting the Tar Heels lead to 88-87.
Fouled with 15 seconds left, Leaky Black hit one of two free throws for UNC giving Duke a chance to tie or win the game in regulation.
But Moore traveled while attempting a contested shot in the lane with nine seconds left.
“Taking it to the basket is the right thing to do,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I feel bad for him because he was trying to make a winning play. Or a tying play or an and-1 if you get it.”
Black’s two free throws with eight seconds left sealed the win for UNC.
In addition to Love’s scoring, Armando Bacot added 16 for the Tar Heels. Kerwin Walton, Garrison Brooks and Leaky Black each scored 12 points. Day’Ron Sharpe added 11 for the Tar Heels.
UNC shot 53.1% and made 10 of 15 3-pointers. Duke expected the taller Tar Heels to get points inside. The Blue Devils didn’t expect a UNC team that’s hit only 30.2% of its 3-pointers this season to shoot that well on the perimeter.
Roach scored 16 points while Moore added 15 for Duke. Johnson scored 14 while Baker and Steward scored 11 points each.
Matthew Hurt, who entered the game the ACC’s second-leading scorer with an 18.8 average, tallied just seven points before fouling out with 4:16 to play. All his points came in the second half.
“It’s important to get the other guys’ best players in foul trouble,” Williams said. “I think that was. We wanted to try to attack him. He’s their leading scorer. We did a decent job defensively.”
Here are our earlier updates from the game:
Second half update
UNC held a 10-point first half lead only to see Duke come back and lead briefly. The Tar Heels, after leading 41-39 at halftime, pushed their lead to as many as 12 points in the second half.
But the Blue Devils were able to come back again and, with 6:55 to play, UNC led the Blue Devils 72-70.
Matthew Hurt spurred Duke’s comeback. The ACC’s second-leading scorer for the season with a 18.8 average, Hurt was scoreless in the game’s first 28 minutes as UNC took a 62-50 lead.
But Hurt scored his first basket with 11:05 to play. He added a 3-pointer with 8:32 left cutting the Tar Heels lead to 69-67.
Caleb Love lead UNC with 18 points
Halftime update
UNC discovered its 3-point shooting stroke on the short drive to Durham and it’s allowed the Tar Heels to take a 41-39 halftime lead over Duke.
A 30.2% 3-point shooting team for the season, the Tar Heels hit 6 of 9 over the game’s first 20 minutes. Kerwin Walton hit all three of his, accounting for his nine points. Garrison Brooks and Caleb Love each scored 10 points for UNC, which led by as many as 10 points in the first half.
Nine turnovers slowed Duke’s offense and the Tar Heels scored 21 points off those miscues.
But after trailing 28-18 when UNC’s Walton hit a 3-pointer with 8:24 to play in the half, Duke unleashed a 14-2 run to erase the deficit and move in front.
Freshman guard Jeremy Roach led the charge, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and adding a basket to leave UNC up 28-26. After Love scored for UNC, Duke scored the game’s next six points on a Jalen Johnson basket, Henry Coleman’s basket and another Johnson score for a 32-30 Blue Devils lead.
Joey Baker’s 3-pointer with 2:54 gave Duke its largest lead of the half a 35-32 with 2:53 left until intermission.
But Duke’s sloppiness struck again as the Blue Devils turned the ball over on three of their next four possessions. After stealing the ball, Anthony Harris picked up an assist on Armando Bacot’s dunk that put the Tar Heels up 41-37 with 43 seconds left in the half.
DJ Steward’s basket with 13 seconds left in the half accounted for the halftime score.
Duke shot 46.9% (15 of 32) from the field in the first half, while hitting 5 of 12 3-pointers. Roach and Wendell Moore scored eight points each to lead the Blue Devils.
First half update
The struggles Duke showed while losing 77-75 on Monday night were not corrected as the Blue Devils prepared to face UNC. The Blue Devils hit just 8 of their first 20 shots, while committing six turnovers, as the Tar Heels grabbed a 28-21 lead with 7:48 to play until halftime.
Kerwin Walton’s three 3-pointers ignited the UNC offense as the Tar Heels hit 10 of their first 21 shots, including 5 of 8 3-pointers. Garrison Brooks, thriving in his matchup with Duke sophomore Matthew Hurt, scored 10 points to lead UNC.
Starting lineups
Duke is going with a bigger starting lineup tonight, with 7-0 freshman center Mark Williams in the starting lineup for the first time since the Jan. 9 win over Wake Forest. Williams is joined by 6-9 sophomore Matthew Hurt on the interior, with freshman guards DJ Steward and Jeremy Roach and sophomore Wendell Moore on the perimeter.
Jalen Johnson, the preseason all-ACC player, will come off the bench for Duke. Johnson has started Duke’s previous four games.
This lineup is the ninth different starting five Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski has used in 14 games this season.
UNC’s starting five has Leaky Black, Caleb Love and Kerwin Walton on the perimeter with Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks manning the post. This is the seventh consecutive game UNC coach Roy Williams has used this starting lineup.
This story was originally published February 6, 2021 at 5:54 PM.