The No. 8 North Carolina men’s basketball team (21-5, 9-3 ACC) fell to the Duke Blue Devils (19-5, 7-4 ACC), 86-78, inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on Thursday night.
What happened?
With Isaiah Hicks ruled out an hour and a half before the game began, sophomore forward Luke Maye took his spot in the starting lineup for his first start in a Tar Heel uniform. And despite missing his first shot and picking up a foul on the ensuing possession, he helped North Carolina jump out to an 11-8 lead after the first media timeout with two points and two assists.
The rest of the first half played out just as tightly contested as those first four minutes, as neither side could amass more than a five-point lead in the game’s first 20 minutes. The Tar Heels and the Blue Devils traded the lead on 13 separate occasions in the first half, with Duke grabbing a 40-39 advantage with five seconds left thanks to a 3-pointer from Grayson Allen.
Allen finished the half with 14, and backcourt mate Luke Kennard tacked on 10 more. UNC was led by Justin Jackson, who racked up 14 points while no other Tar Heel had more than five.
North Carolina took back the lead just 15 seconds into the second half, but that was the last time the Tar Heels would see the lead for quite a while. After a jumper from Maye tied the game at 43-43, Duke went on a 8-0 run to push the lead to 51-43.
UNC didn’t regain the lead until the 12:44 mark, but it was able to push the lead to five points thanks to eight straight made baskets. Duke answered, though, going on a 5-0 run to tie the game once again.
The two sides swapped baskets for the next eight minutes until Duke was able to string together a few made shots to take a 77-71 lead with 3:22 remaining.
UNC battled back to within two points, but the Tar Heels couldn't close the gap.
