Duke Pulls Away From Tar Heels, 76-61

Saturday, March 7

Durham, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

North Carolina

24-7,12-6ACC

Duke

29-2,17-1ACC

North Carolina

Duke

Derek Dixon

Photo by: Grant Halverson

March 7, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

DURHAM, N.C. — Top-ranked Duke went on a 24-2 run in the second half and got a huge game from freshman Cameron Boozer to pull away from No. 17 North Carolina, 76-61, in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.

Boozer led Duke with 26 points, 15 rebounds and five assists.

After three-pointers by Derek Dixon and Luka Bogavac in the first 44 seconds of the second half pulled the Tar Heels within a point at 41-40, the Blue Devils dominated the rest of the way and finished the game by outscoring Carolina, 36-20.

The Blue Devils scored 24 points off turnovers, the most allowed by the Tar Heels all season. After turning the ball over just seven times in its win over Duke in Chapel Hill last month, UNC committed 14 miscues in Durham.

"They got 18 offensive rebounds, and that's just not sustainable," Hubert Davis said in his postgame press conference. "We needed to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. Our 14 turnovers turned into 24 points for them. We got outscored by 20 in terms of points off turnovers."

Duke also got 15 points, nine rebounds and five steals from Malik Brown, 11 points from Isaiah Evans and 10 from Dame Sarr.

"I felt like Malik dominated the game," Davis said of Brown. "Obviously, Cameron [Boozer] is a gifted player, but I felt like Malik's presence disrupted us on both ends of the floor, whether it was it was his post defense, ball-screen defense, steals and deflections, his screens, passing ability, being able to rim run, score around the basket. I thought he disrupted us on both ends of the floor."
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The Blue Devils finished the regular season 29-2 overall and 17-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The loss snaps Carolina's four-game winning streak and drops the Tar Heels to 24-7, 12-6. UNC is 8-12 against Duke when the Blue Devils are ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll.

Derek Dixon led the Tar Heels with season highs of five three-pointers and 17 points. Henri Veesaar had 11 points and nine rebounds, Seth Trimble scored 10 with six assists and Jarin Stevenson had 10 points and nine boards.

Carolina hit 6 of its first 8 shots, but Duke led for almost the entire first half. The Blue Devils built double digit leads on more than one occasion. The Tar Heels used short rallies to stay within striking distance, but Duke held them at arm's length until an 8-0 run pulled UNC within three at 35-32 in the final two minutes of the half. Duke led, 39-34, at the break.

UNC pulled within two at 39-37 on a three-pointer by Dixon to start the second half, followed soon afterward by Bogavac's three. Shortly thereafter, however, Duke blitzed its way to a 16-0 run in 4:47 to take a 19-point lead 63-44 with 10:58 remaining. The Blue Devil defense stymied the Tar Heels, forcing bad shots, especially in the second half, as its lead grew to as many as 25 points with 6:03 to play.

During a stretch of over 11 minutes between the 16:45 and 5:26 marks of the second half after UNC had pulled within three points at 47-44, Duke outscored the Tar Heels, 24-2 to take a 71-46 lead and complete control of the game.

Duke dominated the glass, especially in the decisive second half. It out-rebounding UNC, 42-29, including 18-5 on the offensive boards, leading to a 14-4 edge in second-chance points. Duke had 24 second-half rebounds to just 10 for Carolina. The Devils led for 37:32 of the game, essentially leading from start to finish with the exception of a back-and-forth opening few minutes.

How It Happened
First Half
• Carolina started well and hung tough in the early minutes, making six of its first shots.
• Duke then held Carolina scoreless for over five minutes and went on a 9-0 run to take a 24-13 lead despite missing 6 of 7 shots during the span.
• Carolina used an 8-0 run of its own to cut Duke's lead to 35-32 and force a Duke timeout with 1:45 left in the period. Dixon scored five consecutive points during the burst.
• UNC closed the half on a 10-4 run and trailed, 39-34, at the break after trailing by as many as 12 midway through the half at 27-15.
• Carolina committed seven turnovers that led to 12 Duke points, while UNC forced only three miscues that led to one bucket.
• The Tar Heels tried to double-team Cameron Boozer early but he still led all scorers with 12 points and a team-high six rebounds in the half.
• Duke starting guard Caleb Foster suffered an injury and played just 11 minutes in the first half before missing the rest of the contest with a protective boot on his right foot.

Second Half
• Dixon hit his third triple of the game to cut the Duke lead to two at 39-37 in the first minute coming out of the locker room.
• The Blue Devils then held Carolina scoreless for over five minutes and ripped off an 13-0 run to rouse the crowd and build its biggest lead at 16 at 60-44 with 11:51 on the clock.
• Duke hit five three-pointers by the second media timeout of the half to open its big lead.
• The Blue Devils eventually made a 20-2 run to pull away and take a 67-46 lead in the final 10 minutes. The eventually led by as many as 25.
• UNC shot just four free throws in the game, none in the second half.

Up Next
As the fourth seed, Carolina has a double bye in next week's ACC Tournament in Charlotte. The Tar Heels will play their first game in the quarterfinals at 9:30 p.m. on Thursday against an opponent to be determined. UNC's possible opponents include No. 5 seed Clemson, No. 12 seed Virginia Tech and No. 13 seed Wake Forest.