Duke basketball holds off UNC in thrilling ACC regular-season finale, sweeps season series
Saturday night produced a Duke-North Carolina game that lacked high-level play, but included the usual drama between the fierce rivals.
While neither team reached 40% shooting, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski’s 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Blue Devils scored the game’s final six points to post a 62-57 ACC basketball win over the Tar Heels at the Smith Center.
Filipowski twice hit a pair of free throws in the final four minutes to give Duke (23-8, 14-6 ACC) one-point leads. His two free shots with 1:33 left put the Blue Devils up for good at 58-57.
After UNC’s Leaky Black missed two shots at the rim with 1:17 and 1:11 to play, Jeremy Roach drove through four UNC defenders into the lane to score and give the Blue Devils a 60-57 lead with 47.4 seconds left.
UNC had two possessions with a chance to tie but failed to hit either time, with Davis missing a jumper and Caleb Love a 3-pointer, before Filipowski’s layup closed the scoring with five seconds to play. The Tar Heels missed their final seven field-goal attempts.
“Flip, he’s been right there,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, using Filipowski’s nickname, “I mean, he and Jeremy have been our two best players all year.”
The win means Duke finishes in a three-way tie with Clemson and Pittsburgh for third place in the ACC regular-season standings, giving the Blue Devils a double-bye into Thursday’s ACC tournament quarterfinals at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Blue Devils are seeded No. 4 in the three-way tiebreaker that leaves Clemson the No. 3 seed and Pitt at No. 5.
The Blue Devils enter the postseason having won six consecutive games and nine of their past 11.
“Proud of this effort,” Scheyer said. “Proud of this way, for the guys to grind back this later part of the year. Our guys have stuck together, continued to fight, continued to believe and it’s shown up with what they’ve done on the court.”
Duke beat UNC despite shooting just 37.9%, going 4 for 13 (30.8%) on 3-pointers. Tyrese Proctor scored 13 points for the Blue Devils while Mark Mitchell and Roach each scored 10.
The Tar Heels (19-12, 11-9) shot 30.4%, going 5 for 23 (21.7%) on 3-pointers. Armando Bacot had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who will be the No. 7 seed in the ACC tournament.
As UNC missed its first seven shots of the second half, Duke put together a 6-1 run to open its largest lead at 43-36.
Proctor tipped in his own miss and Filipowski added a rebound slam dunk. After Love split two free throws, Mitchell’s slam dunk put Duke up seven points with 14:02 to play.
But baskets by Caleb Love, Bacot and an RJ Davis 3-pointer drew the game even at 43-all with 12:17 to play.
The lead changed hands eight times over the next eight minutes as the team’s traded blows. UNC led 49-45 but Duke responded with baskets by Mitchell and Lively and the score was tied with 7:23 to play
UNC scored just eight points over the game’s final eight minutes as Duke toughed out the win.
“Just really staying locked in and playing poised on defense,” Proctor said.
With opposing starting centers each picking up two fouls, others had to pick up for their absences in a first half that finished with Duke up 33-31.
Bacot scored nine points despite sitting out four minutes with his two fouls. Davis matched him for UNC’s team scoring lead at halftime.
Dereck Lively went scoreless while playing only six minutes. Filipowski powered Duke to its lead with nine points and nine rebounds in the first half. Proctor scored seven for the Blue Devils.
UNC scored the game’s first five points while Duke’s offense struggled with six empty possessions from the start. The Blue Devils settled down, though, scoring seven points in a row and the game stayed tight from there.
Duke built a 31-25 lead when Filipowski powered for a basket through contact from Bacot with 3:26 left in the first half. Bacot was called for his second foul and Filipowski added the free throw for a three-point play.
But that was Duke’s final field goal of the first half as the Blue Devils missed their last five shots before halftime.
This story was originally published March 4, 2023 at 8:47 PM.