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Duke legend Grayson Allen’s last career home game in 2018 saw the fifth-ranked Blue Devils overcome a 13-point second-half deficit against defending national champions and No. 9 North Carolina, forcing a 60-60 tie with six and a half minutes left. The freshman quartet of Bagley, Trevon Duval, Gary Trent Jr. and Wendell Carter Jr. each converted clutch baskets in the final minutes, with the latter nailing a rare contested three to give Duke a 70-62 lead.
Two minutes after the triple, with his team up six, Duval dribbled towards the paint. He drew three Tar Heel defenders, before deftly casting the ball towards a rising Bagley. The future No. 2 overall pick jammed the alley-oop over Luke Maye, sending the Cameron Crazies into a frenzy. The Blue Devils closed out a 74-64 victory as a tearful Allen embraced legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski before exiting Cameron Indoor Stadium one last time.
Before its 2004 Final Four run, No. 1 Duke clashed with the 19th-ranked Tar Heels in a back-and-forth contest for the ages. At the end of regulation, North Carolina forward Jawad Williams nailed a contested 3-pointer to even the match at 74 points apiece, sending the game into overtime. Then, after a pair of pressure free throws from Redick, the Blue Devils led 81-78 with just 22 seconds left.
North Carolina immediately responded by racing down the court and nailing a game-tying three. However, just as the Dean Dome exploded in glee, Duke senior Chris Duhon sprinted through a distracted Tar Heel defense at lightning speed. Duhon flew from one end of the court to another in just six seconds, before smoothly converting a reverse layup to retake the lead. The Tar Heels’ last-ditch attempt fell short of the basket, and the Blue Devils survived with an 83-81 win.
No. 2 Duke — the eventual national champions — and No. 4 North Carolina fought in a tight struggle early in the second half of the 2001 regular-season finale. Despite the absence of star center Carlos Boozer, the Blue Devils managed to squeeze a narrow six-point lead with 17 minutes remaining, but the Tar Heels responded with an and-one from All-American center Brendan Haywood to make it a 50-47 game.
On the ensuing possession, North Carolina’s other All-American, Joseph Forte, stole the ball from sophomore Mike Dunleavy Jr. and raced towards Duke’s basket to slam the fast break home. Seemingly out of nowhere, Naismith Player of the Year Shane Battier launched himself into the air and swiped the ball out of Forte’s hand just as the latter reached the rim. Duke followed up Battier’s jaw-dropping block with a Jay Williams three and rode that momentum to an emphatic 95-81 win.
After suffering a knee sprain in 2019’s first edition of the Tobacco Road rivalry, freshman phenom Zion Williamson and the third-seeded Blue Devils got another crack at the second-seeded Tar Heels in the ACC Tournament semifinals. Despite Williamson’s dominant 31-point performance, North Carolina hung in with Duke’s star-studded squad, taking a 73-72 lead with 48 seconds left.
The Blue Devils responded by handing the ball to Williamson, getting out of his way and letting him go to work. The future No. 1 overall NBA draft pick dribbled to the elbow and spun around into the paint, releasing a contested layup attempt. The ball rimmed out, but just as the Tar Heels targeted the rebound, Williamson bullied his way up through three defenders, converting the put-back and sealing a 74-73 win en route to Duke’s ACC Tournament title.
Before the 2020 season ended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the seventh-ranked Blue Devils trailed by 10 points with two minutes remaining at unranked North Carolina. On the back of six consecutive points from sophomore guard Tre Jones and five missed Tar Heel free throws, Duke steadily reduced the deficit but still trailed 84-81 with six seconds left.
North Carolina chose to foul Jones, sending the ACC Player of the Year to the line. Jones made the first free throw, then intentionally missed the second before he grabbed his own rebound. Jones dribbled to his left, split two Tar Heel defenders and just managed to put up a midrange jumper with milliseconds left on the clock. Blue Devil fans held their breaths as the shot found its way home at the buzzer, sending the contest into overtime.
