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Top Ten Games of the Duke-North Carolina Rivalry

In honor of the upcoming Duke-North Carolina game on Wednesday night in Chapel Hill, I decided to put together a list of the ten best games between the two rivals along Tobacco Road. It’s been ninety years since the inaugural meeting between the two schools,

a 36-25 win for the Tar Heels. Since then, these two teams have met 227 times in the regular season, ACC tournament, and once in the NIT in 1971 with the Heels coming out on top 73-67. North Carolina leads the all time series 130-97.

 These two programs have been two of the most successful programs in the history of college basketball. These two teams have dominated the ACC. North Carolina and Duke rank 1^st and 2^nd respectively in ACC regular season championships. The Tar Heels have 27 while the Blue Devils have 18. The two are tied for the most ACC tournament titles with 17. They’ve also been great in the national ranks. North Carolina ranks 1^st all time with 18 Final Four appearances and Duke ranks 3^rd all time in that category. The Tar Heels are tied for 3^rd in National Championships with 5 while the Blue Devils are tied for 5^th with 3 National Titles. North Carolina ranks 2^nd all time in wins and Duke ranks 4^th.

 The rivalry was always strong, but it didn’t become heated until the fight between Duke’s National player of the year Art Heyman and North Carolina’s Larry Brown in the 1960’s.

With these two teams being two of the most successful programs in history, they are

bound to end up with some historic matchups by playing each other multiple times a year. I am going to try and narrow the list of historic games down to ten, and give you what I think are the top ten games between these two rivals.

 As always, feel free to give feedback and let me know what you think of the list and any disagreement you might have with it. Without further ado, here it is.

 10. March 4, 2006– #13 North Carolina 83, #1 Duke 76

 In what was the most watched game in college basketball history being televised by both ESPN and ESPN2, it was seen by 3.78

million viewers. It was senior night for the Blue Devils as they came in to the game as the #1 ranked team in the country. North Carolina was coming off of a National Championship in 2005 having lost most of the players from that group. Talented freshman Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green were major keys in leading the Tar Heels to the win in this one. JJ Redick had a forgettable night in his final game at Cameron Indoor after hitting his first five shots of the game, he missed 15 of his final 16 shots and the Blue Devils were defeated.

 9. February 3, 2000– #3 Duke 90, North Carolina 86 (OT)

 In what was a classic example of rankings not holding any weight with the Blue Devils and Tar Heels get together, North Carolina came into the game unranked for the first time since 1990. Them not being ranked didn’t deter them from pushing 3^rd ranked Duke to the absolute limit. Duke took a 17-point lead to the half after North Carolina turned the ball over 19-times. The Heels would fight back in this game and tie it up with a three point shot from Joseph Forte with 5-seconds left to send the game into overtime. Duke was able to prevail in the extra period, but they got a scare from their in-state rivals even when they had the far more talented team.

 8. February 28, 1981—Duke 66, #11 North Carolina 65 (OT)

 Here is another example of rankings not mattering in this rivalry. Duke was in Mike Krzyzewski’s first season and they had struggled to a 17-13 record and had a losing record in the ACC. This would be the same North Carolina team that ended up the National runner up, while Duke would miss the NCAA tournament altogether and end up in the NIT. It was senior night in Durham and Gene Banks would not allow Duke to lose. With the game tied at 56, North Carolina’s Sam Perkins hit two free throws to push the Heels up 58-56. Banks would take the inbounds pass and hit a jump shot as time expired to send the game into overtime. In the extra frame with North Carolina leading 65-64, Vince Taylor missed a jump shot but Banks grabbed the rebound and put in the eventual game winner with 19-seconds remaining to give Duke the upset.

 7.  February 5, 1992– #9 North Carolina 75, #1 Duke 73

 This was one of the more brutal games in the history of the rivalry. It was brutal, but it was also great. The teams changed leads ten

times in the first half before Duke held a 39-38 lead going into the half. North Carolina went on a 10-0 spurt to start the second half, but Duke held North Carolina without a field goal for the final nine and a half minutes of the game. North Carolina hit 12/14 free throws in that stretch which included the two game winners by Derrick Phelps. Christian Laettner had a chance to tie the game at the charity stripe, but the clutch forward wasn’t able to hit either free throw and the Tar Heels escaped with a victory. The game is probably most remembered by the image of North Carolina’s Eric Montross who hit two free throws late in the game while blood poured down his face.

 6. February 4, 2004– #1 Duke 83, #17 North Carolina 81 (OT)

 This was the first of the rivalry between the two current coaches of the two teams. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and new North Carolina coach Roy Williams. With North Carolina leading 69-62, Duke went on a 10-0 run to push the Blue Devils to a 72-69 advantage with 1:06 remaining in regulation. Duke led 74-71 with 38-second left after JJ Redick free throws, but Jawad Williams would tie the game with a three pointer with under 20-seconds to go. Daniel Ewing missed a game winning jumper to send the game into overtime. In almost a repeat of regulation, JJ Redick sank two free throws with 22-seconds left to give Duke an 81-78 lead. Rashad McCants nailed a game tying three pointer and the game looked destined for another overtime. Chris Duhon would come down the court, drive to the basket, and hit a game winning reverse layup to give Duke their 5^th win in their last 6 games in Chapel Hill.

 5. January 3, 1975—Duke 99, #8 North Carolina 96 (OT)

 Another back and fourth contest between the two in the Big Four tournament saw the game tied at 70 with 4-minutes left. Duke then held an 82-80 lead with not much time left on the clock. Phil Ford hit a driving layup with 8-seconds left in the game to tie it up and send the game into overtime. Just like regulation, the two teams went back and forth in overtime. Duke took a quick four point lead in overtime before North Carolina took an 89-88 lead with two Phil Ford free throws. With the game tied at 92, Duke’s Tate Armstrong converted a three point play to put Duke up 95-92. Duke hit their free throws down the stretch to seal a 99-96 victory.

 4.  March 12, 1989– #9 North Carolina 77, #7 Duke 74

 This game is remembered as being one of the fiercest and most intense games in the history of this storied rivalry. This was the third meeting of the season between the two, this time being in the ACC tournament title game. There was bad blood all around even between the two head coaches, Dean Smith and Mike Krzyzewski. North Carolina throttled Duke in Durham 91-71 with that game being remembered for the infamous, “JR Can’t Reid” sign that was held up by a few Duke fans. The Blue Devils paid the Tar Heels back with an 88-86 win in Chapel Hill on Senior night for North Carolina. There was an incredible atmosphere for this game, and the game didn’t disappoint. There were 49 fouls called in this game as the refs tried to seize control. JR Reid played a great game to lead the Tar Heels to victory. North Carolina led for much of the game, but couldn’t put Duke away. When Danny Ferry’s ¾ court shot rimmed out at buzzer, the Heels could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

 3. February 2, 1995– #2 North Carolina 102, Duke 100 (2OT)

 Did I mention yet that rankings don’t matter in this rivalry? If not, here is one more example for you. The 1994-95 season was one

of the worst for Duke in over a decade as Mike Krzyzewski had taken a leave of absence for the year with his back problems. North Carolina was having another strong year that would eventually lead to a Final Four appearance. Duke found themselves down by as many as 17 in the first half. Duke would not lose its composure though as they battled back in the second half and led by as many as 12. North Carolina would come storming back and the two teams would exchange the lead four times before heading into overtime. North Carolina held a 95-92 lead in the first overtime with just 3-seconds remaining and Serge Zwikker headed to the free throw line to ice the game for the Heels. Zwikker missed both free throws and Duke’s Jeff Capel nailed a running 37 foot three pointer to send the game into a second overtime. North Carolina had a 102-100 lead in the second overtime and Duke had a chance to win the game. Steve Wojciechowski missed a jumper and Greg Newton’s put back went begging as North Carolina held on to a hard fought victory.

 2. March 2, 1974– #4 North Carolina 96, Duke 92 (OT)

 For the top two, I had to go way back to the 60s and 70s. This first one may have been the greatest comeback in college basketball history. With Duke leading 86-78 with 17-seconds remaining. North Carolina would score eight points in seventeen seconds to tie the game and send it into overtime. What makes that truly amazing is the fact that this came prior to the three point line being put into college basketball/ With Duke leading 86-84; Pete Kramer missed two free throws that would have iced the game. North Carolina’s Walter Davis hit a 30 foot jumper as time expired to tie the game and send it into overtime. Had three pointers been used, Davis’ shot would have won the game for the Tar Heels in regulation. But, North Carolina would come out on top in the extra frame by a score of 96-92

 1. March 2, 1968– #10 Duke 87, #3 North Carolina 86 (3OT)

 Both of the top two games occurred on March 2^nd, just six years apart. Backup and seldom used junior Fred Lind came off the bench and led Duke to the win. With Duke down five with five minutes left in regulation, their All American center Mike Lewis fouled

out of the game and Fred Lind entered into the game. Lind was a third stringer and was a last resort for Duke head coach Vic Bubas because of the injury to backup center Warren Chapman. Lind came in and erupted with 16 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots. He had a block at the end of regulation on North Carolina’s game winning attempt, hit two free throws to send the game into a second overtime, and then hit a buzzer beating jump shot at the end of the second overtime to send the game to a third. Duke was able to hold on to an 87-86 victory in the third overtime and because of Fred Lind’s heroics, he was carried to the main quad by Duke students after the win.

 Well there you have it, the top ten games in the history of the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. The two meet up for the 228^th time tomorrow night in Chapel Hill and I hope this got you amped up for another game between the two in what we can only hope ends up being a classic that ends up on this list. Thanks for reading and post a comment with any differences you may, let me know of a game you think I missed, or if you just want to talk about a certain game.

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