Surprise surprise — Duke once again got itself into some serious drama Friday night, but for once it didn’t revolve around Grayson Allen’s antics, injuries or a locker room ban.
Duke turned in a gritty and heroic effort in erasing a 13-point second-half deficit to stun North Carolina, 93-83, to advance to the ACC Tournament championship.
MORE: Live stats from Duke-UNC
For much of the game, Duke was holding on for dear life.
North Carolina was dominating Duke in the paint, slashing to the hoop possession after possession. In the first half alone the Tar Heels scored 32 points in the paint, quadrupling Duke's total.
But then Jayson Tatum brought Duke to life.
Tatum’s rim-shaking dunk with 13 minutes to go ignited a spirited 20-4 Duke run that was just too much for North Carolina to overcome. Duke outscored UNC, 42-18, after Tatum’s dunk.
Another reason for Duke's surge was Joel Berry picking up his fourth foul with 15:04 left in the second half. When Berry went to the bench, UNC led, 56-48. When Berry returned with 4:59 to go, Duke led, 77-70.
Tatum finished with 24 points, while Luke Kennard had 20 and Allen had 18.
Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks led North Carolina with 19 points. Justin Jackson pitched in with 16.
Duke and UNC split their regular season series, with the Blue Devils winning the first game at Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Tar Heels taking the rematch at Chapel Hill.
Duke will play Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament championship game Saturday at 9 p.m.
Look back on some of the action by clicking below for updates and observations from the Barclays Center.