There are two Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) hardwood showdowns fans wait all season to see and that's Duke vs Carolina and Carolina vs Duke. Each team gets a shot at winning on their home court.
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GAME ON!
Final: Duke 62, UNC 57
Kyle Filipowski had 22 points and 13 rebounds and Duke pulled out a 62-57 win over North Carolina in their regular-season finale on Saturday.
The Blue Devils (23-8, 14-6), won their sixth straight game and clinched a double-bye in the ACC Tournament that begins Tuesday in Greensboro, N.C. UNC (19-12, 11-9) will be the seventh seed.
Filipowski's double-double was the 14th for the freshman. Tyrese Proctor added 13 points and Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell 10 apiece.
Armando Bacot had 17 points and 11 rebounds for his 68th career double-double. With 1,795 points, he passed Michael Jordan (1,788) for 14th on UNC's career scoring list. RJ Davis also scored 17 points and Caleb Love had 11.
There were eight lead changes and four ties over the final nine minutes starting when UNC claimed its first lead since early on with a Davis 3-pointer that made it 46-45.
Filipowski gave Duke its final lead with two free throws at 1:38 and Roach made it a three-point edge on a drive with 48 seconds left. Davis couldn't convert on a drive and Duke got the ball on a foul during a struggle for the rebound. Filipowski couldn't make the one-and-one but Love missed a 3-pointer and Filipowski iced the game with a layup after Dereck Lively II cleared the rebound.
UNC didn't have a field goal over the first six minutes of the second half as Duke, which led 33-31 at halftime, took the game's largest lead of seven.
Duke shot 38% to 30% for UNC, which made just 5 of 23 from the arc and was outscored 30-16 in the paint.
Duke got its first regular-season sweep of UNC since 2019-20.
Duke fans celebrate after 62-57 win over rival UNC
Duke fans celebrate after 62-57 win over rival UNC
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Final: Duke 62, UNC 57
Heels miss several last-minute shots.
UNC has the call, Coach Hubert Davis calls a time-out.
8:36 p.m. - Duke takes a 3-point lead with under a minute left in the game.
Coach Jon Scheyer calls time after UNC drills back-to-back threes.
8:18 p.m - Back-to-back 3s for UNC give the Heels their first lead since the game start.
Coach Scheyer calls time out.
8:05 p.m. - UNC battles back from 6 points down, RJ Davis drills a 3 to tie the game at 43.
The energy is strong in the Dean Smith Center.
Meanwhile, Armando Bacot passes Michael Jordan on UNC's all-time scoring list.
7:55 p.m. - Kyle Filipowski's dunk gives him his 14th double-double of the season, making him the first freshman basketball player in the NCAA to reach that mark.
Halftime score: 33-31 Duke.
Very physical game and Duke's rebounding has led to 10 of their points.
Filipowski called for goal-tending in the closing seconds leading to 2 points for UNC.
7:25 p.m. - Johnson returns to the bench
Very physical game and Duke's rebounding has led to 10 of their points.
6:47 p.m. - Duke takes a two-point lead 7-5 after Jeremy Roadh drills a three.
6:45 p.m. - Duke scores on their next possession to make it 5-2, UNC with the 3 pt lead.
6:43 p.m. - Caleb Love with the steal and missed dunk. He's fouled on the play and gets on of 2 at the foul line.
How to watch the game
Tonight's game is at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill. You can watch it live starting at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
If you don't have cable, ESPN can be found on Hulu and other streaming services.
Before the game, ABC11 will have live coverage in Chapel Hill at 6:00 p.m. and live updates in this blog during the game.
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Chapel Hill is buzzing
The fans are game day pumped, Franklin Street is buzzing and merch is flying off the racks ahead of the game.
ESPN ramped up the hype Saturday morning with their live College GameDay show from inside the Dean Dome.
UNC has lost 11 games this season at home, while their foes Duke went undefeated at Cameron.
For a second year in a row, the Tar Heels go into the game as a big dance bubble team. However, ESPN predicts they'll get a bid.
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Round one between the Tobacco Road rivals was on Saturday, February 4 in Duke's house--Cameron Indoor in Durham.
Duke got the W in that one by a score of 63-57.
Tonight's game will determine the team's seeding for the ACC Tournament in Greensboro next week. The tournament is Tuesday through Saturday at the Greensboro Coliseum.