North Carolina went the last seven minutes without a basket against Duke but still managed to whip the Devils 79-70 for a Senior Night win that tied Virginia for the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season title.

The Tar Heels, trailing 40-38 at the half, built up a 15-point lead in the second half after senior Kenny Williams, who had a season-high 18 points, drained a three from the top of the key with 6:47 left.

It was close throughout with eight ties and eight lead changes but a 17-5 Carolina run that started midway through the second half changed the trajectory of the game.

Freshman Coby White, who controlled the pace particularly during the run, started the run with a driving basket left of the lane. He was fouled and hit the free throw to make it 61-55.

Later, White, who led the Heels with 21 points, juked defenders with a jab step and stopped for triple in front of the Carolina bench, giving the Heels their first double-digit lead at 70-60.

Seconds later, White whipped a sharp pass to Garrison Brooks who was open for a dunk that got the Smith Center rocking and gave Carolina a 72-60 lead.

Williams, who probably had his best game of the season on a night where he played for the last time on the home court, hit that three to make it 75-60.

During a Duke 10-0 run, Carolina took some ill-advised shots and made some ill-advised passes.

Duke’s Barrett hit a three from straightaway to draw the Devils to within five at 75-70 with 2:15 to go. Neither team could get much going during a wild couple of minutes that followed.

After Williams blocked a Barrett three, grad student Cam Johnson was fouled and he hit both ends of a one-and-one to put the Heels up 77-70 with 49 seconds to go.

A pair of free throws by Brooks, who had missed several free throws during the game, wrapped up the game.

Joining White and Williams in double figures for Carolina were Johnson, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Brooks, who had 10 points. Senior Luke Maye had only seven points but hauled in 16 rebounds and dished out a team-leading seven assists.

The Tar Heels improve to 26-5 and finish 16-2 in the conference. Duke, led by Barrett’s 26 and Cam Reddish’s 23, falls to 26-5 and 14-4 in the ACC.

Carolina, who opens the ACC tournament in New York on Thursday at 7 as the No. 2 seed, swept Duke for the first time since 2009.

For more on the game, including a box score, please click here.