As North Carolina gets ready to take on Duke this weekend, a lot of Tar Heel coaches and players — let alone the fans — will not forget that it did not win a single game against the Blue Devils last season.
The Tar Heels’ 20-13 season last year, which saw them bounced in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, was lowlighted by an 0-3 record against Duke. Even worse for Carolina, the Blue Devils advanced to the Final Four just three seasons after Mike Krzyzewski retired.
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Because of Duke’s dominance last season, many people believe the Blue Devils are ahead of North Carolina as a program despite the Tar Heels’ improvement this season. It will be up to Carolina coach Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels to flip the script.
Here’s a look back at each game and what went wrong for UNC in all three losses.
Duke 87, North Carolina 70 (Feb. 1, 2025, at Cameron Indoor Stadium)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – FEBRUARY 01: Cooper Flagg #2 of the Duke Blue Devils posts up against Ven-Allen Lubin #22 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the first half of the game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 01, 2025 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
The Blue Devils dominated from start to finish in front of their home crowd. Duke made 28 of 53 shots (52.8%) and 10 of 20 3-point attempts (50%), and it outscored UNC 19-7 in points off turnovers. Another key difference was Carolina’s slow start. The Tar Heels shot just 30% from the field and 27% from 3 in the first half and trailed 47-25 at halftime. Duke also had 25 free-throw attempts, 11 more than Carolina.
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Cooper Flagg had a stellar game for Duke, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, three steals and two blocks. Kon Kneuppel had a game-high 22 points, while Tyrese Proctor added 17.
RJ Davis and Drake Powell both led Carolina with 12 points each.
Duke 82, North Carolina 69 (March 8, 2025, at Dean Smith Center)
Mar 8, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard RJ Davis (4) with head coach Hubert Davis as he comes off the court for the last time at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
While Duke held a slight 43-42 lead going into halftime, the Blue Devils pulled away from North Carolina in the second half.
The Tar Heels could not get anything going offensively in the second half as they only made 32.3% of its shot attempts and only made four of its 15 (26.6%) three-point shot attempts. Meanwhile, Duke made 17 of its 28 shot attempts in the seocnd half, good for 60.1%. Duke also had a +13 rebound ,argin as it outrebounded UNC 39-26 throughout the game.
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Four different Duke players had 15 points or more.
Kneuppel had a game-high 17 points, shooting 7-for-10 from the field and 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. Proctor and Sion both had 16 points each. Flagg had 15 points along with nine rebounds, six assists and four blocks.
Davis had a game-high 20 points for Carolina in his final game playing in the Dean Dome.
Duke 74, North Carolina 71 (ACC Tournament Semifinals on March 14, 2025, at Spectrum Center in Charlotte)
Mar 14, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard RJ Davis (4) and guard Seth Trimble (7) react to a missed opportunity later during the second half against the Duke Blue Devils at Spectrum Center. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
North Carolina was close to pulling off one of the biggest comebacks in ACC tournament history after being down 45-24 at halftime and by as many as 24 points with 17 minutes left in the game.
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The Tar Heels were able to close the gap to just one point, and with four seconds to go, Ven-Allen Lubin could have given Carolina a chance to take the lead. However, he missed his first layup and, despite making his second that would have tied the game, Jaelyn Withers of North Carolina was called for a lane violation and it did not count. Kon Kneuppel made both of his free throws to extend Duke’s lead to three with 3.2 seconds left.
Lubin’s spin-around, fadeaway 3-point attempt off the inbounds pass at the buzzer bounced off the rim to give Duke its third and final win over Carolina of the season. Lubin finished with a double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Duke won despite Cooper Flagg’s absence because of an injury. Kneuppel led the Blue Devils with 17 points, and big man Patrick Ngongba scored 12 points off the bench
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Basketball: What last season’s Carolina–Duke Games Revealed
