DURHAM — Hubert Davis and the No. 7 Tar Heels were ticked off.
Duke’s Jeremy Roach hit a 3-pointer to make it a one point game early in the second half. RJ Davis air-balled a three on the next play. With the No. 9 Blue Devils poised to retake control of the game, the message was clear in UNC’s next huddle: "Let’s turn this thing up.”
So the Tar Heels did. UNC ripped off a 9-1 run to eventually win, 84-79, and secure its first outright ACC regular season title since 2017. North Carolina trailed Duke for a combined 16 seconds this season after losing both unranked matchups last year.
If you ask Armando Bacot how the Tar Heels kept their composure, the answer's simple.
“Just a different team, man,” the graduate center said. “We don’t really get nervous. We may lose, but we’re not gonna be nervous in any situation. We just came in with that edge to us that we’ve had all year.”
Juxtapose that confidence to two years ago, when the Tar Heels spoiled Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Even Bacot said they had no business winning. That team practically lived on the NCAA tournament bubble before its Cinderella run, whereas this year’s UNC has remained a projected top-2 seed for most of conference play.
Throughout the volatility, though, one thing has remained constant.
“I mean, Coach Davis hasn’t changed,” senior guard RJ Davis said. “Pretty sure you guys know that.”
Bacot was quick to point out a key difference about this year’s squad: Hubert Davis finally has a group of guys that is all his. The roster doesn’t contain any names that Davis didn’t recruit himself. And, maybe more importantly, they all play his style of basketball — intense and emotional.
