UNC vs. Duke: Score, Highlights and Reaction from 2016 Regular Season

Seeking revenge against their archrivals following a Feb. 17 loss, the North Carolina Tar Heels outmuscled the Duke Blue Devils to secure a 76-72 victory and an ACC regular-season championship Saturday.

North Carolina's size proved to be too much for Duke. The Blue Devils couldn't buy a rebound, losing the battle on the glass 64-29, and didn't make up for it with efficient shooting, posting a 37.3 field-goal percentage.

Despite those advantages, the Tar Heels allowed the Blue Devils to hang around, thanks to their own inconsistent shooting. They went just 26-of-73, including 4-of-23 from three-point range. They started the second half on a five-minute field-goal drought before Joel Berry II drilled a three.

The game was sloppy, as neither team was crisp shooting the ball, giving CBS Sports' Tom Fornelli an opportunity to provide this observation:

"

I’m watching Duke-UNC and wow can these kids miss shots with the best of them.

— Tom Fornelli (@TomFornelli) March 6, 2016"

The Tar Heels pulled away because of their ability to create second-chance opportunities and connect on their free throws, making 20 of 23 attempts from the charity stripe. 

The contrast between North Carolina and Duke was evident out of the gate. ESPN Stats & Info showed how the first-half stats broke down:

Grayson Allen and Brandon Ingram hit three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to bring Duke to within one point of UNC with less than 13 minutes to play. Allen hit another three less than a minute later to tie the game at 49-49.

The Blue Devils knew they couldn't compete with North Carolina's size. It was a mismatch in their first game, as the Tar Heels outrebounded them, 46-34, but Duke's ability to shoot from outside kept it in the game. 

Team	Feb. 17	Mar. 5
Duke	7-19 (36.8%)	13-34 (38.2%)
North Carolina	1-13 (7.7%)	4-23 (17.4%)

Yet just when it seemed as though Duke had seized the momentum, North Carolina head coach Roy Williams regrouped his team during a timeout. The Tar Heels got two quick buckets from Theo Pinson and Marcus Paige to take a 53-49 lead.

The Blue Devils continued to hang around, though foul trouble for Ingram was a problem for head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Ingram recorded his fourth foul with just over 10 minutes remaining, prompting this reaction from Seth Davis of CBS Sports:

North Carolina's depth wasn't a factor Saturday, at least in the scoring department. The starting five had 66 of the Tar Heels' 76 points.

Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks both posted double-doubles. Johnson was all over the glass, recording 21 rebounds to go along with 18 points.

After the win, Johnson seemed elated to finally get a victory at Duke, per Inside Carolina:

Beyond beating Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Tar Heels seniors were also able to erase a longer streak against ranked opponents on the road, per ESPN:

The Tar Heels had problems closing the game out, just as they did in the first matchup against Duke. They were up by nine with three minutes, 24 seconds remaining before allowing the Blue Devils to go on an 8-2 run that cut the deficit to three with 17 seconds remaining. 

Luke Kennard gave Duke one more glimmer of hope, hitting an open three to make it a 72-70 game with 13 seconds left. Paige hit two free throws to bring UNC's lead back to four, but Marshall Plumlee slammed home a putback dunk with five seconds remaining to cut the deficit to two again. 

Duke immediately fouled Paige on the inbounds pass, and he hit both of his free throws to seal North Carolina's first win at Cameron in four years.

In the defeat, Allen played like a star for Duke. He finished with a game-high 29 points, doing most of his damage in the second half, per Duke Basketball:

Kennard was terrific off the Blue Devils' bench, hitting the 20-point mark for the first time since Feb. 6 against North Carolina State. 

Duke's loss was particularly devastating because it dropped the team from No. 4 to No. 5 in the ACC standings, costing it an extra day of rest in the ACC tournament.

The Tar Heels' victory not only secured the regular-season conference title after Miami lost to Virginia Tech earlier in the day, but it also gave them the No. 1 seed in next week's ACC tournament. 

Both teams are safe as far as the NCAA tournament goes, though North Carolina is in position to challenge for a No. 1 seed if it can win the ACC tournament. 

March is all about momentum, which a team can build in a huge rivalry game. North Carolina didn't play its best yet was still able to win at Cameron. Things are looking up for the Tar Heels heading into tournament season.

Postgame Reaction

This was certainly not the prettiest win for North Carolina, but Williams gave his team a clear message that carried through Saturday, according to Andrew Carter of the Charlotte Observer:

Looking at the Tar Heels' next task in the ACC tournament, Williams left no doubt about his group's mindset, per CarolinaBlue.com:

Johnson, North Carolina's star of the game and potential ACC Player of the Year, gave a shoutout to his team on Twitter after the win:

On the other side, not surprisingly, Krzyzewski was not happy with his team's lack of presence in the paint, per Ken Medlin of WRAL-TV:

According to Medlin, Coach K was not willing to get ahead of himself when asked about Duke potentially playing four games in four days to win an ACC title: "Let's just play the first game..."

Now that the regular-season grind is over with, Krzyzewski and Williams can turn their attention to winning in March. They have seven NCAA titles between them, so it shouldn't be hard to put this game in the rear-view mirror.