North Carolina, unranked in both the AP and USA Today Coaches Polls, kicked off college basketball’s “second season” by rallying past No. 5 Duke, 74-66. The Tar Heels sparkled down the stretch, overcoming an 11-point deficit to sink their rivals.
Duke vs. North Carolina: Tar Heels rally past Blue Devils, 74-66
Down 11 early on, North Carolina stifled Duke in the second half. The win was UNC’s fifth against a ranked opponent this season.
Grant Halverson
Leslie McDonald carried the load for North Carolina, scoring 21 points on 9-12 shooting. James Michael McAdoo chipped in 10 points and 10 rebounds, bouncing back from his goose egg against Florida State. Roy Williams threw his myriad bigs at the Blue Devils, and the Heels used their size and physicality to win the rebounding battle 43-30.
Jabari Parker was the beneficiary of some great ball movement from Duke, scoring 17 in addition to his 10 boards. Parker is the first freshman Blue Devil to notch a double-double against UNC since Kyle Singler in 2008. However, Duke went cold in the second half, suffering a stretch of eight-plus minutes without a field goal.
Marcus Paige drove to the hoop for a layup to put North Carolina up four points with 1:30 remaining:
This was the Tar Heels’ first win as an unranked team over a Top-5 Duke team since 1990, giving their fans a reason to celebrate.
The win was North Carolina’s fifth against a ranked opponent this year, which is the same number as conference-mate Syracuse. The Blue Devils had their four-game winning streak snapped, but will have a chance to get revenge on March 8 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. That game will finish up a dramatic ACC regular season.
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