CHAPEL HILL - Twenty-one lead changes, 11 ties and a three-point margin.
The rivalry is back.
With just seconds left, North Carolina point guard Raymond Felton sunk 1-of-2 free throws, and Blue Devil forward Dahntay Jones' last-ditch three-pointer was ruled late as the No. 10 men's basketball team (21-6, 11-5 in the ACC) fell to North Carolina (16-14, 6-10) 82-79 Sunday afternoon at the Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
"It was one of those classic Carolina-Duke games, and I'm just glad we were on the winning end," North Carolina head coach Matt Doherty said.
After a Rashad McCants three-pointer gave the Tar Heels a 75-72 lead with 1:14 remaining, Blue Devil guard Daniel Ewing tried to respond with a long-range bomb of his own, but missed. Although Duke freshman Shelden Williams got his hand on the loose rebound, the ball fell out of bounds to UNC, which countered quickly as Jackie Manuel drove up court for a layup. The Tar Heels led 77-72 with less than 60 ticks on the clock.
Following the shot, fans at the Smith Center went nuts, but Jones, who led the Blue Devils with 22 points, quickly silenced them with a three-pointer.
"Outside of two conference games this year, he has pretty much been our go-to guy," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It's not just how he scored, it's when he scored. He has made a lot of big points for us this season. He's put up big numbers."
With the shot clock off and the Heels leading 77-75, Duke tried to force a turnover, but was forced to foul. Felton hit both shots of the one-and-one, and after a UNC foul on the other end, Jones did the same.
On the next possession, UNC freshman David Noel--a sub-40 percent free-throw shooter on the season--stepped to the line and drained both. Duke point guard Chris Duhon took the ball right to the hoop, slashing the Carolina lead to 81-79 with 3.6 seconds left.
Unable to steal the inbounds pass, Duke was forced to foul Felton. The freshman stepped to the line and swished his first shot. His second rimmed out, and while Jones was able to grab the ball and move up court, he was hounded and slowed by Felton.
The delay worked. Jones, coming up the court, launched a desperate three that found the net and would have tied the game, but the shot was too late.
"It was crazy that Dahntay's shot went in, it was just a half a second late.... but it was a beautiful game," Doherty said.
Beautiful or not, the contest was not without incident--including a bench--clearing shouting match. With a little over eight minutes left in the game, Jones, fighting his way through the lane, caught Felton from behind, causing him to fall to the floor and stop play just in front of the Duke bench.
When the Carolina staff went to check on Felton, the teams exchanged words, and Duke assistant coach Chris Collins began arguing with Doherty.
To avoid putting players in foul trouble, the referees gave technicals to both benches and talked to the coaches at half court.
"Things got a little heated there and I just thought [the way] Coach Krzyzewski handled it was great," Doherty said. "Those things happen sometimes and as crazy as it got, they handled it with a lot of class."
After the fight, the two teams continued to play close-exchanging scores and stops-for the next few minutes.
With 2:24 left, Ewing, taking a quick inbounds pass from Duhon under the basket, forced a layup to tie the score at 72. Then, after McCants missed a three, Duke had a chance to take the lead.
After Duke passed the ball for a bit, Duhon tried to make a move to the basket from the wing. However, the speedy Felton was able to get in from of him, establish position and take the charge.
McCants then put an exclamation on a classic Tar Heel stall by burying a three from the right wing to give North Carolina a 75-72 lead it would never relinquish.
"I just wanted to be more aggressive and make a mental statement," McCants said. "I went out and didn't think about anything but just playing."
The loss snapped the six-game winning streak in the rivalry for Duke, which has won 11 of its last 13 contests against North Carolina.
The game ended the regular season for both teams, which will start the ACC Tournament Friday. As the third seed, Duke will face sixth-seeded Virginia, which beat Maryland 80-78 Sunday night, at 9:30 p.m. In the other match in that half of the bracket, the No. 2 Terps will play No. 7 North Carolina.
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