UNC Basketball: Tar Heels’ best home performances vs. the Duke Blue Devils

No. 10: January 31, 1996

Let’s nickname this game “Dante’s Peak,” due to the gutsy play of Tar Heel guard/forward Dante Calabria.

This game featured the eighth-ranked Tar Heels against the unranked Blue Devils. Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter were UNC’s super freshman duo. The Tar Heels were lead by junior point guard Jeff McInnis and senior guard/forward Dante Calabria. The legendary Dean Smith was in his second to last year as UNC’s head coach.

Despite being unranked, the Blue Devils controlled most the game. Duke led 42-30 at halftime.

The Tar Heels had two leads in this game. The first lead was when UNC had four points and Duke had two points. The next lead came with 6.5 seconds left in regulation. UNC’s Calabria tipped in a missed shot from center Serge Zwikker.

Jamison lead Carolina with 23 points, 14 rebounds and two steals. McInnis had 13 points, four rebounds and two assists. Zwikker finished the game with 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Several UNC players had key performances in this game and actually during every game on this list.

Duke was led by Ricky Price (20 points, six rebounds, two assists), current associate head coach Jeff Capel (16 points, two rebounds, two assists) and Chris Collins (12 points, one assist).

One interesting fact about this game. I was a student at UNC during this time. I was on campus, a block away from where the game took place. This Carolina-Duke game was blacked out in some areas, including parts of Chapel Hill.