UNC looked dead in the water for much of Saturday night’s game against Duke. They started slow and seemingly couldn’t find their way over the hump by getting enough stops on the defensive end once their shots started to fall. The Tar Heels led for just 0.4 seconds of the game, but what a second it was. Seth Trimble hit a three right before the buzzer to give the Heels a 71-68 win.
The first half was a bit of a mess for everyone in Carolina blue not named Trimble or Caleb Wilson. The duo combined for 23 of the team’s 29 points in the first 20 minutes with Wilson putting up 17 by himself. He seemed determined to make good on his promises from this week, but his teammates were struggling to help him out. Duke pulled away early on before the Tar Heels mounted a bit of a comeback to cut the deficit to one before Duke went on another run to put them up 41-29 at halftime. Henri Veesaar was held scoreless in the first half as UNC was abused both in the paint and on the glass.
Carolina came out stronger in the second half, particularly offensively, but still struggled to get enough stops. When the Blue Devils went cold, Carolina did too. It felt fortunate that UNC was able to stay within reach at times, but they refused to fully surrender. Duke found themselves deep in foul trouble in the second half, particularly among their big men. Cam Boozer picked up two fouls early on but managed to not be called for another foul the rest of the way. Patrick Ngongba and Maliq Brown were not as fortunate as they racked up five and four, respectively. Boozer had a big second half with 15 points, but Duke shot just 38% in the second half.
While Duke was trying to stop the bleeding defensively, the Heels kept chipping away at the lead. They shot 61% in the second half and outscored Duke 42-27. Veesaar woke up and turned an egg into another double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Wilson, who was really the only reason the Heels weren’t run out of the gym in the first half, finished with 23 points. Trimble argued to stay in the game after picking up his third foul and rewarded his coach’s confidence. He finished with 16 points, including the most massive three for the win.
UNC closed the game on a 9-0 run over the last two minutes and twenty five seconds. They turned the ball over just seven times and made the most of their 14 free throw attempts with a 79% mark from the stripe. UNC fans have been on the receiving end of one of these heartbreaking buzzer beaters, and it feels absolutely amazing to be the ones to come out on top of one this time. Major credit goes to Derek Dixon for finding Trimble for the shot after they’d gotten the stop on the other end with the game tied.
What a rollercoaster of emotions. Enjoy this one, yall.
The Tar Heels travel to Miami on Tuesday to try and make it six straight.
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