Seth Trimble hit a 3-pointer for No. 14 North Carolina’s with 0.4 seconds left for the Tar Heels’ only lead of the game to knock off No. 4 Duke 71-68 on Saturday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.
There was a delay to clear the floor following a court storming before Duke had a chance to inbound. North Carolina scored the game’s final nine points.
Caleb Wilson racked up 23 points, Trimble finished with 16 and Henri Veesaar posted 13 points and 11 rebounds as the Tar Heels (19-4, 7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) wiped out a six-point deficit in the final 2 1/2 minutes.
Cameron Boozer scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, but Duke’s 10-game winning streak ended. Dame Sarr notched 13 points and Isaiah Evans had 11 points for the Blue Devils (21-2, 10-1).
Wilson shot 8-for-12 from the field and his 6-for-6 free-throw shooting marked more made foul shots than the Duke team (5-for-6).
North Carolina used a 7-2 spurt to close within 64-60 and then Wilson missed a jumper with a chance to tighten the score.
Derek Dixon and Veesaaar hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and the Tar Heels were even at 68-68 with 1:40 left. A Duke miss was followed by a North Carolina timeout and turnover.
Duke took a timeout at the 39-second mark. Boozer missed and the Tar Heels regained possession and used a timeout with 10 seconds left before Trimble’s winning shot on his only 3-point attempt of the game.
Buoyed by an 11-2 closing stretch, the Blue Devils were up 41-29 at halftime, but they were battling foul trouble. That closing burst included Cayden Boozer’s first 3-point basket in five games.
Duke shot 53.3% (16 of 30) in the half — making 10 of its first 13 shots — compared to North Carolina’s 33.3% (9 of 27).
Duke center Patrick Ngongba II picked up his fourth foul with 15:37 to play, with Wilson already at the 21-point mark (after 17 by halftime).
Duke broke out to an 18-5 lead, but the Tar Heels closed within 22-20 courtesy of a 9-0 run. Wilson had 11 of North Carolina’s first 19 points.
–Field Level Media
