9 p.m. ET: No. 8 Duke Looks To Hand Archrival UNC Another Loss

Chapel Hill, NC (Sports Network) - Jon Scheyer ended with 24 points, five rebounds and four assists and sparked a late Duke run, as the eighth-ranked Blue Devils took this year’s first edition of the Battle of Tobacco Road, 64-54, over the down-and-out North Carolina Tar Heels.

Kyle Singler recorded 19 points and nine rebounds for Duke (20-4, 8-2 ACC), which connected on half of its 18 attempts from three-point range to come out victorious for the third straight game.

“We shot 50 percent from three and about 20 percent from two,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “A lot of that has to do with the fact that when you have it close it’s tough to score against them. I thought they played really hard and well and it was a heck of a game. So we’d be proud to win and thankful we came out on top.”

The Tar Heels (13-11, 2-7) were led by Will Graves’s 13 points and eight rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to bring the defending national champions out of their tailspin.

UNC, which had won seven of the previous nine showdowns with the Blue Devils, has now dropped seven of its last eight overall and four consecutive tilts at the Dean Dome.

After UNC’s Ed Davis missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 7:29 left in regulation, Mason Plumlee grabbed a Singler miss and threw down a reverse dunk to break a 45-45 tie with under seven minutes to play. Graves answered Scheyer’s runner with a three-pointer for a one-point game, but Duke scored 12 of the next 14 points to take control.

Scheyer hit a three from the top of the key, and Nolan Smith converted a layup in transition to put Duke on top, 54-48 with 4 1/2 minutes showing.

Still up six, 56-50, Scheyer came off a screen and drained another from behind the arc with 2:32 to play, essentially sealing Duke’s win over its arch-rival.

“Scheyer made some tough, big shots,” said Graves. “Every time, they had an answer for everything we did and even when we weren’t doing something they still had an answer. They made plays and we didn’t. I can’t put another formula together.”

Singler drained a pair from behind the arc in the opening 3 1/2 minutes to put the visitors on top, 9-4.

North Carolina clamped down defensively and erased a 20-15 deficit on two Deon Thompson free throws and a Graves three-pointer with under nine minutes to go before the break.

Duke made just 22.5 percent from the field in the first half but still led 28-27 at halftime thanks to its hustle on the glass, as the Blue Devils grabbed 14 offensive boards in the opening 20 minutes.

The lead changed hands several times early in the second half, with the Heels taking their biggest lead, 43-39, on Dexter Strickland’s layup near the 12- minute mark. Duke called timeout after the basket and quickly tied it on buckets by Singler and Smith.

North Carolina great Tyler Hansbrough, who led the Heels a title last season, had his No. 50 retired at halftime...Duke’s Lance Thomas suffered a right knee injury early in the second half after a knee-to-knee collision with Larry Drew II and did not return...North Carolina leads the all-time series, 130-98...Davis, who had his left wrist taped after taking a hard foul from Singler near the midway point of the second half, had just four points, while Drew scored 11 for the Heels, who shot 34.5 percent from the field...23 of Duke’s 51 rebounds came on the offensive end.