UNC Basketball: 11 Historical Games and Moments against Duke
Feb 1st, 2001: #4 UNC 85, #2 Duke 83: One of three UNC/Duke games I still have on VHS was the high point of the horrible Matt Doherty era in Chapel Hill. For this first time ever both teams enter the first game of the season unbeaten in conference play. The Heels dominated on the inside early thanks to the frontcourt duo of Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang building a 41-34 halftime lead.
The Blue Devils made their normal run in the second half taking the lead briefly, there would be five lead changes and four ties down the stretch. Then with less than five seconds to go Duke captain Shane Battier committed the worst foul of his career fouling Haywood 30 feet away from the basket. The Tar Heels senior center hit both foul shots giving the Heels the winning two point margin and finding redemption at the same foul line where he missed a pair of free throws as freshman in 1998 that gave Coach K his 500th win.
Jason Chapel played his greatest game a Tar Heel that night scoring 20 points while Joesph Forte had 24 points and a career high 16 rebounds the most by a Tar Heel guard ever. The win lifted the Heels to #1 in the polls but it did not last as the Heels would lose on four straight Sundays including the rematch in Chapel Hill against Duke who was playing without Carlos Boozer. Duke would go on to win another national title.