Top 10 Memorable Moments from the Last 10 Games Between North Carolina and Duke

Since the first meeting of the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils on the basketball court in 1920, there have been plenty of memorable games and athletes.  The teams face off at least twice a year in what many consider the most heated college rivalry.

Wednesday night’s game will mark the 11th match up between Coach Roy Williams and Coach Mike Krzyzewski.  The current record between the two coaches is 5-5.  Both the Tar Heels and the Blue Devils have swept the series since these coaches first faced each other in 2004.  On Wednesday, one coach will tip the balance and walk away with that 6-5 record.

These are the top memorable moments from the last 10 games:

10. February 5, 2004: Duke 83, UNC 81 (OT)
Duke Senior Chris Duhon's reverse layup with 6.5 seconds left in overtime gave Duke its 16th straight victory in a row and its fifth victory in the last six years on North Carolina's home court.

9. March 6, 2004: Duke 70, UNC 65
Neither team led by more than six points in the second half until they were tied at 56. Rashad McCants lost the ball as he was setting up to take a three-pointer. J.J. Redick dove to the floor, grabbed the loose ball, and called a timeout with 4.4 seconds to go.

8.  February 9, 2005: Duke 71, UNC 70
North Carolina was down by nine with five minutes remaining. A layup by McCants put North Carolina in need of only one point with less than a minute to play. North Carolina decided not to foul, allowing Redick to shoot an air ball as the shot clock expired to give the Tar Heels one chance.

Raymond Felton attempted to run a play that Duke's defense had covered. He tried a desperate pass to David Noel by the sideline, but the ball went out of bounds as the horn sounded to end the game.

7. March 6, 2005: UNC 75, Duke 73
This was Roy Williams’ first victory over Duke.  At home, the Tar Heels were down by nine with less than three minutes to play but rallied. Felton was shooting a second free throw and missed.  Marvin Williams got the rebound, made a layup, and was fouled.  He made the free throw to complete the three-point play.

6. February 7, 2006: Duke 87, UNC 83
This win marked Redick’s final game in the Dean Smith Center.  He shot 35 points (22 in the second half) and set a career high with four steals.

5. March 4, 2006: UNC 83, Duke 76
North Carolina (No. 13) defeated Duke (No. 1), which was the Blue Devils’ first home loss to the Tar Heels since 2001.  It was also the final home game for Redick and Shelden Williams. Redick missed 15 of his final 16 shots.

4. February 7, 2007: UNC 79, Duke 73
The Tar Heels gave the Blue Devils their first three-game losing streak in nearly eight years.

3. March 4, 2007: UNC 86, Duke 72
The most memorable moment in the 10 games between Roy and Coach K has to be Tyler Hansbrough taking Gerald Henderson’s elbow to the nose.  With less than a minute left in the game, the outcome was already determined.

This is also a personal most memorable moment, as I was in risers for my senior year at North Carolina.  Tar Heel fans did not enjoy seeing their player rise from the floor with blood pouring down his face.  Henderson was ejected from the game after being charged with a combative foul.

2. February 6, 2008: Duke 89, UNC 78
Hansbrough scored 28 points, totaling 1,794, to pass Michael Jordan’s 1,788 points (1981-84) for 11th place on the Tar Heels' all-time scoring list (Hansbrough is now the Tar Heels’ number one all-time scorer with 2,587 points).

1. March 8, 2008: UNC 76, Duke 68
Wayne Ellington made a layup to tie the score at 68 with three minutes left.  This started North Carolina's game-closing 10-0 run.

The game Wednesday will be as exciting as all North Carolina versus Duke games are, and the outcome will put one coach ahead of the other.  At least until their next match up.