By: Matt Bowers
Courtesy GoHeels.com
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.—Harrison Ingram and Armando Bacot both posted double-doubles as third-ranked North Carolina topped seventh-ranked Duke, 93-84, on Saturday night at the Smith Center.
Bacot had 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, becoming the first Tar Heel to compile those numbers against Duke since Hall-of-Famer Charlie Scott in 1970. The 25 points tied his season high set in the season opener against Radford. Bacot has scored in double figures in all 10 of his career games against Duke with four consecutive double-doubles.
Ingram had 21 points, his scoring high as a Tar Heel. He also had 13 rebounds for his eighth double-figure rebounding day in the last 10 games and his seventh double-double of the season. He sunk a career-high five three-pointers in nine tries and tied his career high with four steals.
RJ Davis chipped in 17 points and five assists without a turnover, hitting 2 of 3 three-pointers for his 19th consecutive game with multiple treys to extend his own school record. He hit 5 of 14 field goal tries overall and spent much of the night as the focus of Duke’s defensive efforts.
“Big guys making big time plays and stepping up,” Davis said of his teammates. “Harrison, Cormac [Ryan], and Armando all had huge games. It just shows you how much of a team we are and it’s never about one guy.”
Carolina (18-4, 10-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) led virtually from start to finish. The Tar Heels have won 11 of their last 12 games. Duke (16-5, 7-3) led for just 16 seconds of the game at 2-0.
“When [Armando] is dominant down low in the post like that, it just opens everything up for us,” UNC head coach Hubert Davis said. “It gives us space to drive and penetrate and get to the basket. It gets us open shots on the perimeter. It gets us closer to the penalty.”
Duke got big games from Jared McCain (23 points and 11 rebounds), Kyle Filipowski (22 points) and Jeremy Roach (20).
The Tar Heels led, 45-35, at halftime and led by double digits throughout most of the remainder of the game despite Duke shooting 54.3 percent in the second half.
Carolina shot 50.0 percent from the floor. UNC is 19-0 under Davis when it shoots at least 50 percent, and it’s won 27 consecutive games when shooting 50 percent or better.
UNC hit 9 of 24 three-pointers as a team (37.5 percent), while Duke, which entered the game leading the ACC at over 39 percent from behind the arc, was 5 for 19 (26.3 percent).
Carolina scored the most points by any team against Duke since the Blue Devils allowed 94 against UNC on March 5, 2022, in the Tar Heels’ win in Durham in Mike Krzyzewski’s last home game as Blue Devil head coach.
“They played a great game,” said Duke head coach Jon Scheyer. “You know the game that Ingram and Bacot had, they have 46 points and 23 rebounds between them. They were great.
“I thought their defense bothered us in the first half. But, I think the main story for me was the loose balls. When you look throughout the game, they were hungrier to get them and it turned into I bet close to 15, 20 points. And you have to give them credit for that.”
How It Happened
First Half
• The Tar Heels got off to a quick start, hitting 6 of their first 11 shots and leading, 13-8, at the first media timeout.
• Both teams shot well in the first half with Duke at 47.1 percent and UNC at 51.4.
• Carolina matched its biggest lead at 45-35 at halftime.
• Bacot has 12 points and eight rebounds, and Ingram had 11 and six in the first half.
• Elliot Cadeau had seven points and three assists in the first half, helping overcome a slow first half for Davis (2 for 6 shooting, four points).
• Carolina had a 12-3 edge in fastbreak points in the opening half.
• It was the most points UNC has scored in a first half against Duke since scoring 45 in the first half on 2/8/18.
• Carolina led Duke at the half for the first time since March 6, 2021.
• UNC was 5 for 9 at the free throw line in the first and Duke was 0 for 0.
Second Half
• Duke shot 60 percent from the floor (12 for 20) through the first 13+ minutes of the second half to keep the game relatively close.
• The Tar Heels held the Blue Devils at bay despite a 54-36 Duke edge in points in the paint.
• Carolina hit 5 of 12 three-pointers as a team in the second half (41.7 percent).
Postgame Tidbits & Notes
• The game was the first meeting in the series when both teams were ranked in the Associated Press Top 10 since the 2019 ACC Tournament.
• It was Carolina’s first top-10 matchup overall since a Dec. 2019 loss at Virginia.
• It was the 50th all-time meeting between UNC and Duke with both teams ranked in the AP Top 10. That is the most frequent matchup of top-10 opponents between any two teams in NCAA history. (UNC leads, 25-24, in those games).
• Carolina is 5-2 against AP-ranked teams this season (wins over No. 20 Arkansas, No. 10 Tennessee, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 16 Clemson and No. 7 Duke).
• Carolina now leads the all-time series with Duke, 144-117.
• The Tar Heels are 66-39 against Duke in Chapel Hill, including 21-18 in the Smith Center.
• UNC has won five of the last eight meetings in the series.
• Bacot played in his 154th career game, second most in UNC history behind Leaky Black’s 155.
• Former Tar Heel players in attendance at the game included Tyler Hansbrough (who was honored at halftime for his induction into the College Basketball Hall of Fame), Antawn Jamison, Bobby Frasor, Mike Copeland, Mitch Kupchak, Marcus Ginyard, Brice Johnson, Ed Cota, Terrence Newby, Baden Jaxen (Dexter Strickland), Ryan McAdoo, Luke Maye, Melvin Scott, Phil Ford and Tyler Zeller.
Up Next
Carolina will return to the Smith Center to host Clemson on Tuesday night February 6.
Follow Tar Heel basketball on X at @UNC_Basketball and @UNCMBBstats and on Instagram at UNC_Basketball.
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