Duke vs. UNC: Live Score, Highlights and Reaction

No. 20 Duke 74, No. 5 North Carolina 73 

The No. 20 Duke Blue Devils (20-6, 9-4 ACC) pulled off an improbable victory at the Smith Center over their biggest rival, the No. 5 North Carolina Tar Heels (21-5, 10-3), on Wednesday night. 

Duke played without Matt Jones, who left in the first half with an ankle injury, and had Marshall Plumlee in the game with four personal fouls for the final 10 minutes of the contest.

North Carolina possessed a major advantage in the paint in the first half as it commanded the boards and benefited from a tremendous performance from Brice Johnson. 

But for some reason, the Tar Heels went away from using Johnson in the second half, even with Duke's top big man in serious foul trouble. Johnson ended with 29 points and 19 rebounds, but he only made one field goal in the final five minutes. 

Duke hung around thanks to North Carolina's poor offensive game plan and a stellar second half from freshman Brandon Ingram. Ingram recorded his seventh double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. 

After sticking with the Tar Heels for the entire second half, Luke Kennard put the Blue Devils ahead with a three-pointer with 2:30 remaining. Grayson Allen, who led Duke with 23 points, put the visitors ahead for good with just over a minute left as he hit a pair of foul shots. 

On the final possession, Roy Williams opted not to call a timeout and the Tar Heels failed to get off a good shot on their home court. 

The win was the third straight for Duke over a ranked opponent. The loss brought North Carolina level in the loss column with the Miami Hurricanes in the ACC regular-season title race. 

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