Duke vs. North Carolina score, takeaways: Tar Heels snap Blue Devils’ three-game rivalry winning streak

There were no fans inside at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and neither team was ranked for the first time since 1960, but this season’s first rendition of the Duke vs. North Carolina lived up the standards of the series anyway. In the end, the Tar Heels rode their best offensive performance of the season past Duke for an 91-87 victory that the Tar Heels sorely needed.

Duke (7-7, 5-5 ACC) enjoyed its highest scoring output of the year as well but languished defensively against a North Carolina team that was lethal both in the paint and in the perimeter just four days after scoring only 50 points in an ugly loss to Clemson. Freshman guard Caleb Love led the way for the Tar Heels (12-6, 7-4) with a career-high 25 points, giving UNC the explosive guard play it had lacked for much of the season to this point.

Still, a Duke team that got just seven points from leading scorer Matthew Hurt, stayed on UNC’s heels all the way until the final buzzer. Freshman forward Jalen Johnson drove to the basket with a chance to tie the game, but was whistled for a travel with eight seconds left From there, North Carolina iced the game at the free-throw line.

While a pair of late free-throws from Leaky Black secured the outcome, a surprising dose 3-point shooting propelled the Tar Heels for much of the game. UNC entered ranking among the worst in the ACC and nationally in most 3-point shooting metrics but made 10-of-15 from beyond the arc, with Love and Kerwin Walton combining to make 8-of-9 to counter Duke’s 11-of-25 night from 3-point range.