The greatest moments in the North Carolina-Duke rivalry

Many people feel it was this game that really began the rivalry. Art Heyman originally committed to North Carolina before backing out and going to Duke. When the two teams met in Durham in 1961, there was a ton of tension between the players, as Heyman and UNC's Doug Moe nearly got into a fight. (Heyman reportedly shoved a Carolina cheerleader down on his way to the locker room at halftime.) With Duke leading by five with 15 seconds left in the game, Heyman fouled Larry Brown (yes, that Larry Brown), which led to a bench-clearing brawl. Fans even went onto the court to fight. A rivalry was born. 

Duke head coach Vic Bubas (pictured) found a secret weapon in the Blue Devils season finale against the Tar Heels: Fred Lind. Lind had scored just 12 points all season long, but against UNC he scored 16 and also grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots. Among his exploits were a blocked shot at the end of regulation, hitting two free throws to send the game into double overtime, and a buzzer-beater to take it into a third overtime. Duke won, 87-86, in triple overtime, and the students carried Lind off the court. 

North Carolina trailed Duke, 86-78, with just 17 seconds remaining in the game when the Tar Heels mounted one of college hoops' biggest comebacks. Bobby Jones made two free throws, and then a Walter Davis steal led to a basket by John Kuester. Jones would steal the inbound pass and lay in a basket to narrow the gap to just two points. Duke's Pete Kramer missed the first free throw of a one-and-one, and Davis banked a 30-foot shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. The Tar Heels would go on to win the game, 96-92.

No. 4 North Carolina headed into Cameron Indoor Stadium with a plan. Dean Smith used his famed four corners offense to stall the contest (there was no shot clock at the time), but it backfired — Duke took a 7-0 lead into halftime. In fact, Carolina's lone two shots in the first half missed everything, leading Duke fans to chant "air ball" (a basketball first). Duke would go on to win, 47-40, but it led to an aggravated head coach Bill Foster saying, "I thought it was Naismith who invented basketball, not Dean Smith."

Mike Krzyzewski's first season at Duke wasn't the greatest (just 6-8 in ACC play), but the regular season ended in a big way. On senior night, Duke's Gene Banks wore a tuxedo and threw roses to the Cameron Crazies. In a thrilling back-and-forth affair, the Heels held a 58-56 lead with two seconds left. Banks took an inbounds pass and hit a jumper to send the game into overtime. Then Banks rebounded a Vince Taylor miss and banked home the game-winner with 19 seconds left. It was Coach K's first win (the first of many) in the rivalry.

This contest was the last home game for Tar Heels Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, and Matt Doherty. Down two late, Doherty hit a jumper to tie the game with a second left. The two teams played to a standstill in overtime, but Jordan and Perkins dominated in the second overtime period...leading to UNC winning the game, 96-83. A week later, Duke would get its revenge, beating top-ranked North Carolina, 77-75, in the ACC tournament semifinals. 

The huge Dean Smith Center replaced the smaller Carmichael Auditorium in 1986, and the first game of the new venue was the No. 1 Tar Heels hosting the No. 3 Blue Devils. The black-tie affair couldn't have asked for a better matchup, as both teams fought back and forth with Carolina coming out on top, 95-92.

One of the most intense games in this rivalry didn't even happen in the state of North Carolina but instead was at the 1989 ACC tournament championship game in Atlanta. In their game in Durham a week before the ACC final, the Cameron Crazies mocked Heels star J.R. Reid with signs saying "J.R. Can't Reid." Dean Smith took exception to it and compared Reid's and Scott Williams' SAT scores with that of Duke's Danny Ferry and Christian Laettner, claiming his players' scores were higher. That set Mike Krzyzewski off, and both teams (and coaches) were primed for a physical battle. Reid scratched up Ferry's face. Williams shoved Laettner in the back, which led to Krzyzewski going after Williams...which led to Smith going after coach K. There were shoving matches, hard fouls, and lots of hard feelings before UNC came out of the fracas with a 77-74 win and its first ACC championship since 1982.

Undefeated, top-ranked, and defending national champion Duke rode into Chapel Hill for one of the most intense games in the rivalry. It was a scrappy contest in which Duke point guard Bobby Hurley broke his foot (yet stayed in the game), and Eric Montross got cuts on his face and the side of his head, causing a stream of blood. Montross, with blood on his head and uniform, led the Heels to the 75-73 win and gave the Blue Devils their first loss since...North Carolina beat them in the 1991 ACC championship game. 

When people talk about the Duke-Carolina rivalry, the 1995 game is almost always brought up. ESPN put the game on its new, hipper network, ESPN2. Mike Krzyzewski was out for the season on a leave of absence, and the Blue Devils were having their worst season in over a decade. This game had everything: Jerry Stackhouse's dunk, the Cameron Crazies going at Rasheed Wallace, and, of course, Jeff Capel's half-court shot to send the game into double overtime. While that shot is the iconic moment of this game (and maybe the entire rivalry), Duke didn't win. North Carolina's Donald Williams hit a huge jumper to take the lead with a minute left in double overtime, and Jeff McInnis stole the ensuing inbound pass and laid it in to give the Heels a four-point lead. UNC held on for a 102-100 win.  

It wasn't the best of times in Chapel Hill, as the Heels were coming off an 8-20 season and were in danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for a second straight year. Doherty played at North Carolina during the Michael Jordan era of the 1980s and took exception when Duke's Dahntay Jones hit UNC's Raymond Felton in the face. When Doherty went to tend to his player, who was lying in front of the Duke bench, he got into a shouting match with Duke assistant coach and former player Chris Collins. The two coaches and various players had to be separated. Carolina upset No. 9 Duke, 82-79.

The first matchup of the rivals in 2004 was also the first time Mike Krzyzewski faced Carolina in the Roy Williams era. Williams was tasked with turning Carolina back to its championship ways (spoiler alert: he would), and a win over top-ranked Duke would have been big. This matchup featured huge shots, as Sean May, J.J. Redick, and Jawad Williams nailed key buckets late to send the game to overtime. The biggest basket of all was Chris Duhon's, who ran the length of the court and hit a reverse layup with 6.5 seconds left to give the Blue Devils the 83-81 lead. Carolina's desperation shots didn't find the net, and Duke escaped with the win.

The early 2000s were a rough time for Carolina basketball, as it had lost 15 of 17 to the Blue Devils. Before a record crowd at the Dean Dome, the Tar Heels erased a nine-point deficit with just over three minutes left. Marvin Williams' putback of a Raymond Felton missed free throw with 17 seconds left gave Carolina the lead. The Heels won the game and their first outright regular-season ACC title since 1993. Sean May led the way with 26 points and 24 rebounds.

No. 1 Duke hosted North Carolina on J.J. Redick's and Sheldon Williams' senior night. Redick was the National Player of the Year, but it was Tyler Hansbrough — who would eventually win his own National Player of the Year Award and pass Redick as the ACC's all-time leading scorer — who would pull off the 83-76 upset. Hansbrough would go on to win all four of his trips to Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

The Tar Heels were cruising toward an 86-72 win when Gerald Henderson's elbow met Tyler Hansbrough's nose under the basket with 14 seconds left. Hansbrough leaped up off the court with blood flowing from his nose and looked as if he was going to attack Henderson before teammates calmed him down. Hansbrough would wear a mask during the ACC and NCAA Tournaments. The two players have since become good friends, even hosting a podcast together. 

Duke's Greg Paulus was known as much for his flopping as anything else, so it was with extra vigor that UNC fans cheered when Danny Green dunked all over Paulus during their 2008 meeting in Durham. In transition, Green caught a pass from Marcus Ginyard and went up for a dunk as Paulus attempted to take a charge. No. 1 North Carolina won the game, 76-68.

One of the most memorable shots in the rivalry's history is Duke's Austin Rivers' game-winning three at the buzzer to beat North Carolina, 85-84. Rivers was heavily recruited by both schools, and Heels fans booed him every chance they had. UNC led by 10 points with 2:09 left in the game. With 14 seconds remaining, Carolina center Tyler Zeller tipped the ball in Duke's basket to make it a one-point game. Zeller then missed the second of two free throws and was guarding Rivers when he hit the game-winner. 

Eleven days before Carolina and Duke met in Cameron Indoor Stadium, legendary head coach Dean Smith passed away at 83 years old. Players and coaches from both teams circled and knelt at halfcourt to honor one of the greatest and most influential coaches in sports. Coach Smith was Roy Williams's mentor and Mike Krzyzewski's rival and friend. Duke mounted a late comeback to send the game into overtime, and the Blue Devils ultimately won, 92-90.

The buzz around Zion Williamson's first UNC-Duke game was palpable in Cameron Indoor Stadium (Barack Obama was there!). The buzz went to a hush as Williamson blew out his shoe and hurt his knee just over 30 seconds into the game. The legend of Zion grew as his shoe was left in tatters but the game went on and the Tar Heels spanked the Blue Devils, 88-72. Zion would miss the rematch in Chapel Hill (UNC won that game as well) but did get his revenge in their ACC tournament semifinal showdown. 

Similar to their 1995 showdown, the two programs were going in opposite directions, as Duke was a top 10 program while UNC was in the midst of one of the worst seasons in program history. The Heels held a 13-point lead with less than four minutes left in regulation when Duke went on a 20-7 run to tie the game with the final points coming on an intentionally missed free throw by Tre Jones that he rebounded and putback a jumper. In overtime, Carolina held a five-point lead with :21 remaining but let it go after a couple of layups, turnovers and another missed Jones free throw that Duke rebounded...only this time Jones' shot missed the mark. Wendell Moore caught it in the air and laid it in at the buzzer for the 98-96 win. 

Duke's 2021-2022 season was a victory lap of sorts for head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who was retiring after 42 seasons in Durham. Of course his final regular season game would be against his arch rival North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium and the media (namely ESPN) was giddy over a Saturday filled with honoring Coach K and all he's meant to the university and college basketball as a whole. Nearly 100 former players and Krzyzewski's entire family attended the game. Big names like Jerry Seinfeld, Dirk Nowitzki and NBA commissioner Adam Silver were in attendance to take in a historic night. Ticket prices reached record levels.

North Carolina, who Duke slaughtered in their earlier meeting in Chapel Hill, was nothing more than the "heel" in the storybook ending to Krzyzewski's career. Hubert Davis was finishing up his first season as UNC's head coach -- one that saw the Heels sitting squarely on the NCAA tournament bubble when the day began. No one entertained the thought that Carolina could spoil this night for Blue Devils fans.

Except that's exactly what they did.

The Heels scored 55 second half points in a 94-81 victory over Duke in what has been debated as the biggest regular season win in program history. As Carolina began to pull away late in the game, the once-electric Cameron crowd was standing in stunned silence. What was meant to be a coronation turned into a horror show. A night that was about celebrating Duke basketball's most important figure suddenly saw their bitter rivals celebrating and dancing on the very floor that bears Coach K's name. The emotions were so raw that players and fans had words and Duke assistant coach Chris Carrawell refused to shake Hubert Davis' hand. Even Krzyzewski felt compelled to begin the post game ceremonies for him by telling the crowd to "be quiet" as he apologized for his team's play.

The regular season ending loss to North Carolina seemed to galvanize the Blue Devils. Duke went on a NCAA tournament run and reached Mike Krzyzewski's record 13th Final Four and his first since 2015. It looked like destiny, especially when their national semifinal matchup was with their long-time rival North Carolina. This was the first time these two schools met in the NCAA tournament, setting off a massive storyline that filled the week leading up to the game.

This was the game the rivalry kind of didn't want to happen. Whomever won this game had the ultimate trump card by winning on this stage. For Duke, there was the feeling of revenge for the Heels ruining Coach K's "senior night" in Cameron Indoor Stadium and the satisfaction of winning him a title in walk-off fashion. For North Carolina, it was the opportunity to beat Duke once again, this time ending Krzyzewski's career. Fans on both sides were both anxious and nervous about this ultimate battle.

The game didn't disappoint. The two went back and forth where, at times, it looked as if either team had a hold on the game. There were 12 ties and 18 lead changes with Caleb Love's three pointer with under 30 seconds remaining being the dagger that ended Duke's season and Krzyzewski's career.