Duke and North Carolina will tip things off in Birmingham, Alabama, on Friday at Legacy Arena. The two in-state rivals split their regular season series. Please click here for more.

When it comes to Duke’s rivalry with the North Carolina Tar Heels, it isn’t just about one sport, although men’s basketball will certainly take the cake for ratings and such. The women’s basketball side of the rivalry saw a split in its two regular season games, each team winning on their home court. Please click there for more.

North Carolina rallied from 24 points down on rival Duke and had a chance to take the lead at the foul line with four seconds left. Then, the absolute worst things that could happen happened and the Tar Heels fell to the Blue Devils 74-71 in the ACC Tournament semi-finals. (3/14)

Down 72-71, Carolina’s Ven-Allen Lubin drew a foul and went to the free throw line with a good chance to win it. Lubin, who had made all four of his free throws earlier in the game, missed the first of two free but he still had a chance to hit the second and possibly send the game into overtime. He indeed hit what would have been the tying free throw but an over-anxious Jae’lyn Withers moved his foot into the lane for a violation that negated the free throw.

Carolina was forced to foul and Duke’s best free throw shooter – Kon Knueppel – got the ball on the inbounds, was fouled and hit two free throws to make it 74-71. With a couple of seconds left, the Tar Heels were unable to get the ball to RJ Davis and big man Lubin had to heave up a three at the buzzer that wasn’t close. Duke, playing without best player Cooper Flagg, had survived.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Knueppel said. “Obviously we were pretty happy they didn’t get a chance to tie it.”

Earlier, it looked as if it would be a runaway as Duke scored the last 15 points of the first half over the last 4:40 and took a commanding 45-24 halftime lead. The Blue Devils extended the lead to 52-28 before the Tar Heels started their comeback.

Over the next seven minutes, Carolina shaved 10 points off the Duke lead but still trailed by 14. In the final eight minutes, the Tar Heels made some defensive stops and attacked the basket often, absolutely dominating the No. 1 team.

A 24-7 run during that time pulled the Heels within a point when Seth Trimble converted two free throws with 32 seconds left to make it 72-71, setting up the disastrous finish.

An emotional Withers left the court with a towel over his head and teammates consoling him. For his part, UNC coach Hubert Davis wouldn’t directly address the play. He was asked a question about lifting Withers’ spirits. “It’s all of our spirits because we’re a team,” Coach Davis said. “When we win we win together and when we lose we lose together.”

He also wouldn’t directly answer questions about whether or not his team had done enough to make the NCAA Tournament. He noted that the Tar Heels had been asked about being on the bubble for more than a month during which time the players have been focused on becoming the best team it can. “We’ve been playing must-win games for a month and we’ve played our best basketball. That’s pretty cool.”

In this game, Carolina’s recent three-point barrage ended. The Tar Heels, who have been averaging 11 threes a game late in the season, managed only three – and they were all from a surprising source, Elliot Cadeau, who was saddled virtually the entire game in foul trouble. As a result, Cadeau played less than 27 minutes but still scored 15 points, dished out five assist and picked off a pair of steals.

While the Heels were cold from outside, Lubin picked it up in the paint with a team-high 20 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double in the last five games. “He has been consistently high level for a while, giving us that inside presence we need,” Coach Davis said.

The other two Tar Heels in double figures were Seth Trimble with 14 points and Drake Powell with 10.

The Heels, now 22-13, must wait until Sunday at 6 p.m. to find out if they did enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

Even if Duke doesn’t win the ACC Tournament title Saturday night, the Devils are likely to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils, now 30-3, had five players in double figures with Knueppel leading the way with 17 points, 12 of which came in the first half.

Box score

North Carolina, with an NCAA bid hanging in the balance, came from 15 down to lead No. 1 Duke by six with under 13 minutes to go. That’s when the Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run and Carolina managed just 10 points over the last 12 minutes of the game as Duke won 82-69 on UNC’s senior night. (3/8)

“Once we were ahead by six, our shot selection during that time was not the best and it led them out into transition,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said.

In the first half, with Duke’s super freshman Cooper Flagg in foul trouble and UNC’s fifth-year player RJ Davis lighting it up, the Tar Heels, down 36-21, turned the game around and pulled within a point at the half, 43-42.

After Davis scored 15 in the first half and five early in the second half as the Tar Heels went up 52-47, Duke shut him down over the final 17 minutes of the game.

Carolina managed its biggest lead at 56-49 on a Ven-Allen Lubin bucket in the lane less than five minutes into the second half. But with the Tar Heels still ahead 59-53, Duke exploded for 12 straight points in less than three minutes to gain control of the game at 65-59 with less than 10 minutes to play. A Flagg dunk follow and a fastbreak dunk by Maliq Brown highlighted the stretch.

Then Brown, who had hit only two of nine three-pointers on the season, knocked the Tar Heels out with a pair of threes. Meanwhile, a tired Carolina went cold, shooting only 32 percent in the second half and 39 percent for the game.

Duke shot 61 percent in the second half and 56 percent for the game as Kon Knueppel led four Blue Devils in double figures with 17 points.

The Tar Heels were actually winning the points in the paint battle 24-22 before being outscored 29-10 over the last 12 minutes when the Devils controlled the points in the paint 18-4.

“We were getting to the basket and scoring and then (after the first few minutes of the second half) we weren’t able to score or draw any fouls,” Coach Davis said.

Flagg, who was saddled with three fouls in the first half in just nine minutes of play, played the entire second half without being called for a foul.

Carolina, now 20-12 and 13-7 in the ACC, saw a six-game win streak come to an end and figures to need a deep run in the ACC Tournament in Charlotte to reach the NCAA Tournament. They’ll open ACC tourney play Wednesday as the fifth seed in a 2:30 pm matchup against the winner of the Notre Dame-Pittsburgh game.

With their eighth straight win, Duke moves to 28-3 overall and 19-1 in the ACC to take the league regular season title outright.

Box score

With 23 wins in their last 24 games and four consecutive 30-point victories, Cooper Flagg and the Duke Blue Devils look like the most obvious No. 1 seed in years, and ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi put them where they belonged in his latest Bracketology projection on Tuesday. Please click here for more.