With the game tied and less than a minute left on Saturday night at the Dean Smith Center, Duke forward Cameron Boozer knocked the ball away from Seth Trimble on a breakaway.
However, Boozer’s subsequent performance also failed to score.
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As a senior guard, Trimble got a chance to create a decisive moment in a historic district game that has been split evenly over the past 120 games.
He drained a 3-pointer that sent the Dean Smith Center into chaos.
Fans rushed to the court, only to find that there were 0.4 seconds left in the game.
All of them had to return to their seats as equipment staff anxiously cleared debris from the hardwood — all while Duke’s interior offense failed to change the 71-68 outcome, UNC’s biggest comeback win over Duke in 25 years.
The forward, who scored 17 of UNC’s 29 points in the first half and finished with 23 points, was motivated by Caleb Wilson, who revealed to Andscape ahead of the competitive matchup that Duke is no longer talking to the forward in recruiting. Boozer, another top-five pick in the NBA draft, had 24 points and 11 rebounds.
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Duke broke through UNC’s defense in the opening minutes with well-timed drives. One of them sparked a 10-0 run that gave the Blue Devils an 18-5 lead when center Patrick Ngongba II passed the ball to wing Dame Sarr, who followed with a dunk.
Duke scored 12 of its first 18 points in the paint.
Wilson didn’t touch the ball much early and didn’t score until 13:18 of the first half. But his drought-ending turnaround jumper created a nice up-and-down sequence that gave the Tar Heels a shot in the arm.
UNC double-teamed Boozer early and often. His first point and shot came on a tip-in eight and a half minutes into the game.
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After Wilson scored eight straight points for the Tar Heels, winger Jonathan Powell hit a 3-pointer to pull within six points of the Blue Devils at 22-16.
Wilson added another three for UNC, and after two quick fouls, Boozer was on the bench with 9:33 left before halftime as the Tar Heels went on a 9-0 run.
He lasted less than two minutes, though, as Duke maintained its lead throughout the first half and even regained a double-digit advantage, first with a 3-pointer from Cameron Boozer and then a 3-pointer from his twin brother, Caden Boozer.
After shooting just 9 of 27, or 33 percent, in the first 20 minutes of the game and grabbing just 11 of the game’s 33 rebounds, UNC found itself trailing 41-29 at halftime. Center Henry Vissar averaged 16.8 points and 9 rebounds per game, but only scored 0 points and 2 rebounds in the first half.
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Wilson followed up the game early in the second half with a tough jumper over Cameron Boozer, who had beaten Boozer with a great block in the first half.
Wilson then used a jab step to set the stage for a left-handed layup. As his clinic continued, so did Duke’s lead, with 3-pointers from Caleb Foster and later Sarr.
But Vissar’s first point, and Jalin Stevenson’s second 3-pointer of the second half, cut the Tar Heels’ deficit to five. The sequence sparked a flurry of offense on both sides of the ball.
UNC and Duke went into the second media timeout of the half, and the Tar Heels’ effort level was significantly higher than it was at the start of the game.
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The scoring slowed down over the next few minutes. Isaiah Evans blocked Wilson and Boozer scored his second three-pointer to give the Blue Devils a 62-53 lead.
That said, UNC isn’t going away. Derek Dixon lit up the court with a 3-pointer.
He scored again less than four minutes later, and Vissar followed up to tie the score at 68-68.
Vissar bounced back from a lull in the first half to score 13 second-half points, and his defense denied Boozer a chance to win the game.