UNC vs. Duke: Score and Reaction from 2017 Regular Season

The No. 18 Duke Blue Devils earned bragging rights over their Tobacco Road rivals Thursday night inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke (19-5, 7-4 ACC) earned an 86-78 victory over the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels (21-5, 9-3 ACC).

Grayson Allen fouled out late in the game but led all scorers with 25 points, while Luke Kennard chipped in with 20 points.

True freshman Jayson Tatum had a big night, narrowly missing a double-double. He finished with 19 points, nine rebounds and five assists. SB Nation's Ricky O'Donnell praised Tatum's offensive patience:

Justin Jackson scored 21 points in a losing effort, and Joel Berry II was the only other Tar Heel to finish in double digits (15 points).

A little over an hour before the game was set to tip, the Tar Heels announced Isaiah Hicks suffered a hamstring injury in practice Wednesday and thus would be unavailable against the Blue Devils, per the News & Observer's Luke DeCock.

That left Carolina without its third-leading scorer and rebounder. Hicks is averaging 12.8 points and 5.6 boards a game.

The Tar Heels received some good news, however, as Theo Pinson played for the first time since suffering an ankle injury against Virginia Tech on Jan. 26. Marilyn Payne of WRAL Sports Fan tweeted how the junior forward made an immediate impact on the glass:

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis praised Carolina's effort on the boards:

While the Tar Heels started strong out of the gate, neither team remained on top for long in the first half, which saw 10 lead changes.

Kennard and Allen did the heavy lifting for the Blue Devils, who saw only four players score a point in the opening frame. Kennard had 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, while Allen scored 14, including a three-pointer in the final seconds of the first half to put Duke up 40-39 going into the locker room.

Detroit Lions guard Laken Tomlinson, who attended Duke, enjoyed what he was seeing from the junior guard:

Not to be outdone, Jackson led North Carolina with 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting. The Charlotte Observer's Pat James noted how Jackson's half represented a significant improvement over his first two games inside Cameron Indoor Stadium:

Sporting News' Sam Vecenie has enjoyed watching Jackson evolve over the 2016-17 season:

Duke appeared to take control early in the second half after grabbing an eight-point lead, 51-43, inside the first 3:03. Following a layup and free throw by Kennedy Meeks, Tatum brought the home crowd to its feet with an emphatic one-handed jam over Meeks at the other end.

SportsCenter shared a replay of the dunk:

Tatum's slam shook the Tar Heels out of their funk, though. They went on an 18-6 run over the next five minutes to go ahead 64-59.

But Duke tied the game 66-66 on a jumper from Tatum with 9:16 remaining. The Blue Devils then built a six-point lead, 77-71, following a dunk by Allen at the 3:24 mark.

North Carolina knocked on the door, getting to within two points with 2:20 left and re-closing the gap to three points a little over a minute later after Duke had opened up a bit more breathing room. The Tar Heels couldn't find the clutch basket that would put them on level terms again.

The defeat drops North Carolina into a tie with Florida State for the ACC's best record. Virginia is a half-game back at 8-3. Duke is now tied for fifth after moving to 7-4. With so little space separating the teams at the top of the conference, the regular-season championship will likely go down to the wire.

Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams will have some time with his squad to break down Thursday's loss before it steps on the court again next Wednesday against North Carolina State.

The Tar Heels then have matchups against No. 12 Virginia and No. 4 Louisville, so beating the Wolfpack will be important with regard to the ACC title race.

Duke, meanwhile, only has a day off before it welcomes Clemson on Saturday. After that, the Blue Devils hit the road to take on the Cavaliers.

With five wins in its last six games, Duke is firing on all cylinders.

Postgame Reaction

"We shoot it great in practice," Williams said, per WTVD in Durham, North Carolina. "It was just one of those nights."

The Tar Heels made 52.5 percent of their field-goal attempts but shot 4-of-12 from three-point range.

Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski praised Jackson after the game, per Lauren Brownlow of WRAL Sports Fan: "I think Jackson's as good a player as we've played against all year—his movement, he never gets tired."

The Devils Den shared Tatum's postgame comments from the Duke locker room:

"Grayson had an amazing game," said Krzyzewski, according to WTVD. "Jayson in the second half was kind of lights out."