UNC Basketball: Tar Heels' 5 Best Moments in Rivalry with Duke

For North Carolina basketball fans, every time the Tar Heels knock off Duke, it's considered a memorable moment in the series' history.

But some instances stand out above all others. Those plays or situations that any big UNC fan can recall where they were—at the game or in front of a TV, no doubt—and can retell down to the most minute detail.

There are those game-winning shots, key baskets down the stretch or just all-around stellar games (won by the Heels, of course) that would be considered classics even to the casual college hoops follower.

Odds are, these five examples are high on the list of most Carolina fans.

1974: Eight Points in 17 Seconds

Duke and North Carolina have played 238 times, the first meeting coming back in 1920. There were plenty of classics over the first five decades, but the earliest one on our list comes from the third of three meetings during the 1974 season (including a clash in the now-defunct Big Four tournament that also included North Carolina State and Wake Forest).

The visiting Blue Devils led most of the way and had an eight-point lead with 17 seconds left. Such a lead is almost insurmountable nowadays, but there was no three-point line back then.

Still, UNC managed to force overtime thanks to four points from Bobby Jones, two from John Kuester and the game-tying basket from Walter Davis on a 30-foot bank shot as time expired.

UNC would go on to win in overtime, 96-92.

1989: The Atlanta ACC Final

Duke and North Carolina have combined for 36 ACC tournament titles (with Duke claiming 19 of those), and each school has knocked off the other five times in the championship game.

Many of these ACC finals rank high on the list of greatest games in the series' storied history, but few come close to the billing that the 1989 ACC title game had.

Each team had won on the other's home court during the regular season, with UNC blowing out Duke by 20 at Cameron Indoor Stadium to hand the Blue Devils their first loss that year.

During that game, signs in the crowd mocked UNC star J.R. Reid (by inserting "can't" into his name) and made for much contention throughout the remainder of the regular season, according to LostLettermen.com:

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Dean Smith did not take kindly to the sign which he saw as racially motivated. He responded to this action by stating that Reid and Scott Williams had higher combined SAT scores than Christian Laettner and Danny Ferry. In turn, Blue Devil backers were incensed that Smith would use private information about two college students and air it publicly to tear them down, especially when they had nothing to do with the sign.

"

This hatred carried over into the championship game, held in Atlanta's Omni Center. UNC led at the half and pulled out an ugly 77-74 win in a game that had 49 fouls called. And in a touch of irony, Reid was the tourney's MVP.

1992: The Bloody Montross Game

There have been plenty of physical games between Duke and North Carolina over the years, and from time to time, some blood is drawn.

Carolina center Eric Montross, though, emerged from a 1992 game like he'd gone 15 rounds with Mike Tyson.

After taking a couple of blows to the head, Montross ended up attempting free throws as blood streamed down his face from a cut below the eye. He had to leave the court and go to the locker room for treatment, but he eventually returned and helped the Tar Heels knock off unbeaten defending national champion Duke, 75-73.

Montross wasn't the only player to sustain a notable injury in the game. Duke guard Bobby Hurley broke his foot yet unknowingly continued to play with the ailment.

1995: The Stackhouse Reverse Slam

The highest-scoring game in series history required 10 extra minutes of play, with North Carolina pulling out a 102-100 victory in double overtime in February 1995.

The game occurred during Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's medical leave of absence because of a back injury, and early on, the host Blue Devils looked lost without their leader, trailing 26-9.

During that early stretch, UNC dunked all over the place, including the above highlight-reel reverse jam by Jerry Stackhouse.

But that seemed to wake up Duke's offense, and it rallied in the second half to force overtime. The Devils also forced the second OT when Jeff Capel hit a 37-foot jumper at the buzzer, right after UNC's Serge Zwikker missed two free throws that would have iced the game.

In the second OT, UNC took control but still had to watch as Steve Wojciechowski missed a jumper in the final seconds.

2005: The Marvin Williams and-1

North Carolina has won at least a share of 36 regular-season conference titles, its first coming in 1923 and the most recent in 2012.

The longest stretch the Tar Heels went without an outright crown was 12 seasons, coincidentally the same stretch between Dean Smith's final NCAA title (1993) and the first of two won by Roy Williams (2005).

To claim that 2005 title, UNC needed to knock off Duke at home in the regular-season finale. The Heels trailed by nine points with three minutes left, only to go on a game-ending 11-0 run for the victory.

Carolina slowly chipped away at the lead, getting within two points at 73-71 when Raymond Felton made the first of two free throws. His second was off, but Felton tipped his own miss to Marvin Williams, whose putback was good as he was fouled.

Williams made the and-1 free throw, and then Duke's J.J. Redick was short on the potential game-winning three-pointer.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.