CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Saturday night produced a Duke-North Carolina game that lacked high-level play, but included the usual drama between the fierce rivals.
While neither team reached 40% shooting, Duke’s Kyle Filipowski’s 22 points and 13 rebounds propelled the Blue Devils to a 62-57 ACC basketball win over the Tar Heels at the Smith Center.
Filipowski twice gave Duke (23-8, 14-6 ACC) 1-point leads in the final four minutes by sinking a pair of free throws. His two free shots with 1:33 left put the Blue Devils up for good at 58-57.
After UNC’s Leaky Black missed a shot at the rim with 1:15 to play, Jeremy Roach drove the lane to score and give the Blue Devils a 60-57 lead with 47.4 seconds left. UNC had two possessions with a chance to tie but failed to hit either attempt before Filipowski’s layup closed the scoring with five seconds to play.
The win means Duke will finish among the top four in the ACC regular-season standings, giving the Blue Devils a double-bye into Thursday’s ACC tournament quarterfinals at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Blue Devils enter the postseason having won six consecutive games and nine of their past 11.
They beat UNC despite shooting 37.9%. Tyrese Proctor scored 13 points for Duke while Mark Mitchell and Roach each scored 10.
North Carolina (19-12, 11-9) shot 30.4%. Armando Bacot had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who will be the No. 7 seed in the ACC tournament.
As UNC missed its first seven shots of the second half, Duke put together a 6-1 run to open its largest lead at 43-36.
Proctor tipped in his own miss and Filipowski added rebound slam dunk. After Love split two free throws, Mitchell’s slam dunk put Duke up seven points with 14:02 to play.
But baskets by Caleb Love, Bacot and a Davis 3-pointer drew the game even at 43-all with 12:17 to play.
The lead changed hands eight times over the next eight minutes as the teams traded blows. UNC led 49-45 but Duke responded with baskets by Mitchell and Lively and the game was tied with 7:23 to play.
With opposing starting centers each picking up two fouls, others had to pick up for their absences in a first-half that finished with Duke up 33-31.
Bacot scored nine points despite sitting out four minutes with his two fouls. Davis matched him for UNC’s team scoring lead at halftime.
Dereck Lively went scoreless while playing only six minutes. Filipowski powered Duke to its lead with nine points and nine rebounds in the first half. Proctor scored seven for the Blue Devils.
UNC scored the game’s first five points while Duke’s offense struggled with six empty possessions from the start. The Blue Devils settled down, though, scoring seven points in a row and the game stayed tight from there.
Duke built a 31-25 lead when Filipowski powered for a basket through contact from Bacot with 3:26 left in the first half. Bacot was called for his second foul and Filipowski added the free throw for a three-point play.
But that was Duke’s final field goal of the first half as the Blue Devils missed their last five shots before halftime.
