Since Mike Krzyzewski was hired in 1980, he has elevated the Duke-North Carolina rivalry to something approaching holiness. Every iteration of the rivalry attracts thousands of fans and let’s be honest, millions of dollars. Hundreds of Duke students sleep for months each year in a patch of grass bearing Krzyzewski’s name just for the chance to watch Coach K lead the Blue Devils against the team that lives 20 minutes away.
And almost every game has been memorable. Coach K has led Duke through 95 games against the Tar Heels; 31 of them have been decided by five points or less. In 2022, Krzyzewski has a chance to make his last mark in the rivalry before Jon Scheyer takes the reins. He’ll be facing off against Hubert Davis, who has replaced Roy Williams in Chapel Hill. But let’s not look forward just yet. Instead, join us on a journey through Coach K’s most iconic moments in the Tobacco Road rivalry.
Moments
1. Coach K’s first rivalry game (Dec. 5, 1980)
Coach K’s first game against North Carolina gave a hint of just how intense the rivalry would become. Dean Smith’s squad jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first half of the Big Four Tournament contest. While foul trouble allowed Duke to crawl back in the game, North Carolina’s James Worthy gave the Tar Heels a major boost with 26 points. Gene Banks, the senior captain, was able to give Duke a late lead with about two minutes left. However, Krzyzewski’s first foray into the rivalry was no dream, as future Tar Heel head coach Matt Doherty hit a free throw with 12 seconds remaining to give North Carolina the narrow 78–76 victory.
“Duke deserved to win in the final minute,” said Dean Smith. It would not take long before Coach K took down North Carolina. -Morgenstern
2. Gene Banks buzzer-beater (1981)
Krzyzewski may have lost his first battle against the Tar Heels, but he and the Blue Devils soon got their revenge in Coach K’s first regular-season finale. With just one second left in regulation, Banks caught an inbound pass and nailed the buzzer-beater to force overtime before sinking the game-winning layup just a few minutes later. Duke’s 66-65 victory represented Krzyzewski’s first win in the rivalry, while Banks capped off his regular season career in style with 26 points. It was the end of an era for one Duke legend, but the beginning for another. -Kolin
3. Double standard game (Jan. 21, 1984)
The top-ranked Tar Heels faced an unranked Blue Devil squad, but Coach K was not prepared to go down without a fight. Duke led 67-63 in the final minutes. However, a young man named Michael Jordan turned out to be one tough cookie, as was Kenny Smith. But it was Dean Smith who made this game truly special by banging on the scorer’s table with four minutes to play, accidentally adding 20 points to North Carolina’s score. It was fixed, but Duke still lost to the Tar Heels for the fifth consecutive time.
Krzyzewski was incensed after the game, saying that there was a “double standard” in the ACC—one for Smith and the Tar Heels, and one for everyone else. -Morgenstern
4. 1984 ACC tournament semifinals (Duke beats No. 1 UNC with Jordan)
North Carolina dominated Duke during the early years of the Coach K era, winning eight of its first nine contests against the Krzyzewski-led Blue Devils. Then came the two teams’ matchup in the semifinals of the 1984 ACC tournament, a game that altered the trajectory of—and some would say even saved—one of the greatest rivalries in sports.
Just a week after a heartbreaking double-overtime loss in Chapel Hill, Duke finally pulled off the upset, taking down the Tar Heels 77-75 behind Mark Alarie’s team-high 21 points. Michael Jordan led all scorers with 22 in the final ACC tournament game of his career, but it wasn’t enough as Krzyzewski notched his first win against a No. 1-ranked opponent. -Evan Kolin
5. UNC opens brand new Dean Dome in 1986 with win
The opening of the Dean E. Smith Center (dubbed the Dean Dome) could not have come at a more exciting team for the rivalry. At this point, both teams were solid blue bloods and Coach K had an impressive resume. The opening of the Chapel Hill arena marked the first top-five rivalry matchup of Coach K’s tenure. No. 1 North Carolina staved off a late run by Duke’s Tommy Amaker and Danny Ferry to defeat No. 3 Duke 95-92. -Morgenstern
6. Dean Smith’s final rivalry game (1997)
Nobody knew on March 2, 1997 that it would mark the last time Dean Smith would face off against Duke. Vince Carter and the No. 8 Tar Heels defeated No. 7 Duke that day 91-85 despite a late push by Blue Devils Ricky Price and Jeff Capel. Krzyzewski was upset, saying, “We should have taken it to the hole.” Seven months later, Dean Smith announced his retirement. -Morgenstern
7. Wojo’s Senior Day (1998)
Some say Senior Day is supposed to encapsulate your entire career, and that couldn’t be any more true for Steve Wojciechowski, who tallied one point, 11 assists and plenty of floor slaps as No. 1 Duke took down No. 3 North Carolina 77-75 to cap off the 1998 season. The Blue Devils trailed 64-47 with 12 minutes remaining, but—in what’s been a common theme throughout the rivalry—came all the way back to bring home the 500th win of Krzyzewski’s career.
If there’s any career that symbolizes what Duke has been all about during the Coach K era it’s Wojo’s, and if there’s any one Duke-UNC game that symbolizes the rivalry over the last 40-plus years, it may very well be this one. -Kolin
8. Duhon’s layup welcomes Williams to the rivalry (2004)
With Dean Smith now long retired, it was Coach K who was the elder statesman of the rivalry. Krzyzewski gave new North Carolina head coach Roy Williams the same welcome Smith had given him: a tough last-minute loss. Senior guard Chris Duhon scored the game-winning layup with 6.5 seconds left in overtime. No. 1 Duke escaped the Dean Dome with an 83-81 victory. -Morgenstern
9. The Austin Rivers shot (Feb. 8, 2012)
There’s a reason this highlight plays before every game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. North Carolina seemed in control all night and led 82-72 with just over two minutes remaining; but then, everything unraveled for the home team. From Mason Plumlee’s acrobatic steal to Tyler Zeller tipping it in his own basket, an array of implausible sequences brought Duke to within two with just seconds remaining.
Then came the most implausible play of them all, when Austin Rivers pulled up for the gutsiest of gutsy threes and silenced the Dean Dome at the buzzer. This is the Duke-UNC game against which all others are judged. -Kolin
10. 2015 OT win (honored Dean Smith pregame)
This game is remembered just as much for what happened before the game as what happened during it. Just before tip-off, both rosters knelt together at midcourt to honor legendary North Carolina head coach Dean Smith, who passed away 11 days before the contest after a long battle with dementia. The contest itself wasn’t too shabby, either, with freshman sensation Tyus Jones fueling Duke to a 92-90 win in an overtime thriller. Jones notched 22 points in the win, including nine straight in the final 1:38 of regulation to force overtime. -Kolin
11. Comeback/buzzer-beaters 2020
Jay Bilas repeats the phrase every year for a reason: Duke-UNC always delivers. And in the teams’ first matchup at the Dean Dome in 2020, fans learned what that phrase means in two different ways. With the Tar Heels having lost seven of their last nine games and fallen out of the top-25, the visiting Blue Devils entered as heavy favorites. But for the first 36 minutes of the game it certainly didn’t look like it, with North Carolina holding a 13-point edge with four minutes remaining in regulation.
Then, the phrase entered its second meaning, with Duke transforming what appeared to be a disappointing blowout loss into yet another comeback for the ages before Tre Jones and Wendell Moore Jr. buzzer-beaters handed the Blue Devils an improbable 98-96 win. -Kolin
Editor's note: This article is one of many in The Chronicle and The Daily Tar Heel's annual rivalry edition. Find the rest here.
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