Kyle Filipowski racked up 22 points and 13 rebounds and Duke dealt rival North Carolina a huge blow by winning 62-57 on the road Saturday night in Chapel Hill, N.C.
Tyrese Proctor added 13 points, and Mark Mitchell and Jeremy Roach each scored 10 points for the Blue Devils, who swept the regular-season series from North Carolina less than a year after the Tar Heels won an epic Final Four semifinal between the schools.
Duke (23-8, 14-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) will take a season-high six-game winning streak into the ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
North Carolina (19-12, 11-9), which had a three-game winning streak snapped, likely needs to win at least a couple of games in the conference tournament to enhance its NCAA Tournament hopes.
Armando Bacot provided 17 points and 11 rebounds, RJ Davis had 17 points and Caleb Love scored 11 points for the Tar Heels, who shot 30.4 percent from the field.
Duke’s interior faced foul trouble, with Dereck Lively with four and Ryan Young with three with more than 15 minutes to play. North Carolina missed its first six shots of the second half.
The Tar Heels used a 7-0 run to pull even at 43 on Davis’ 3-pointer with 12:15 to play. Back-to-back 3s from Davis and Pete Nance pushed North Carolina to a 49-47 edge.
Then came a series of lead changes. North Carolina went back on top on two Bacot free throws with 1:57 left. Filopowski matched those on Duke’s next possession and then Roach’s layup made it 60-57 with 50 seconds to play.
After both teams had empty possessions, Love missed a 3-pointer and Filipowski scored at the other end for the game’s final points.
Duke led for most of the first half but never extended the margin to more than five points. The Blue Devils were up 33-31 at halftime, largely aided by seven offensive rebounds. Duke missed its final five shots of the half.
North Carolina dealt with foul trouble, with Nance picking up three first-half fouls and Bacot tagged with two. The Tar Heels shot 34.6 percent from the field in the first half but converted 11 of 13 free throws. That was a development because North Carolina attempted just three free throws in the entire game in last month’s meeting, 63-57 Duke win in nearby Durham.
–Field Level Media
