Dick Vitale gave his account of the UNC-Duke rivalry and shared some of his most memorable moments. (3:10)
The Duke and North Carolina rivalry is one of the most storied in college basketball and will be on display in the Final Four. The two schools will meet for the first time in the NCAA tournament.
Duke and North Carolina have played each other 257 times. The teams played each other in the regular season. In Chapel Hill, the Blue Dukes won 87-67, but North Carolina spoiled Mike Krzyzewski's final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium a month later with a 94-81 victory.
Duke-North Carolina is the most common ranked opponent since the AP poll era began in 1948-49. It is the most common top-five and top-ten match-ups.
Before both teams hit the hardwood in the Final Four, let's relive some of the more memorable moments from this historic rivalry.
𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐, 𝟏𝟗𝟕𝟒: UNC trailed Duke by 8 points with 17 seconds left...@UNC_Basketball fans know the rest. pic.twitter.com/LCuy63cl3L
— ACC Men's Basketball (@accmbb) February 4, 2021
The first two meetings between UNC and Duke were won by the Tar Heels. Duke gave North Carolina all it could handle. The Tar Heels were on the verge of defeating the Blue Devil, but they had an eight-point lead with 17 seconds left.
The collapse by Duke helped North Carolina force overtime. Bobby Jones hit two free throws to cut the lead to six. The following inbounds pass was stolen by UNC. Jones scored a putback on the Tar Heels next possession after forcing another Duke turnover. Walter Davis made a tough jumper as time expired to force overtime, after the Blue Devil forward missed the front end of a one-and-one.
The comeback effort was completed with a 96-92 win thanks to Davis, Ray Hite and Brad Hoffman. There was no 3-point line at the time of the Tar Heels come-from-behind victory.
Heading into their game with the Tar Heels, the Blue Dukes were the top ranked team. The game had 10 lead changes in the first half.
The game became a defensive battle after the Tar Heels' big run. Duke held UNC without a field goal for the final 9 minutes of the game. The Tar Heels hit 12 of 14 attempts at the charity stripe. The point guard for North Carolina hit two foul shots in the last 45 seconds to give his team the lead. Christian Laettner missed two attempts in the final moments as the Blue Devil had a chance to tie. The Tar Heels upset the top team in the country.
Eric Montross has scars on his body from the physical contest.
The 7-footer had to have stitches on his head. He had a cut to the left side of his face in the second half. Montross scored 12 points with nine rebound in 28 minutes, including clutch free throws late with blood on his face.
The coach from North Carolina scored 16 points. He was a guard for the Tar Heels from 1988 to 1992.
There is a strong case for the best game between the Blue Duke and Tar Heels. Jerry Stackhouse's jam over two Duke players capped a 26-9 run for North Carolina. However, Krzyzewski's crew didn't roll over and cut the lead to five before the half.
Duke took the lead midway through the second half. UNC battled back from nine down to force overtime. In the extra session, the Tar Heels led by as much as nine before Duke made four 3-pointers, one of them being Jeff Capel's 30-foot shot as time expired to help Duke force a second overtime.
Donald Williams and Jeff McInnis both made crucial shots in double OT to help the Tar Heels escape with a win. The 202 combined points scored are the most in a UNC/Duke game.
The Dean Dome will be the site of some of the most memorable finishes in the UNC-Duke rivalry.
After Duke defeated North Carolina in the first game of the 2002-03 season, the Tar Heels retaliated. They defeated the then-No. The 10 Blue Devil led by 26 points from McCants and 18 from Felton. The Tar Heels held Duke to 5-of-23 shooting from 3-point range.
An altercation with 8:17 left to play drew more attention than the game.
Felton was hit in the face by Dahntay Jones. Tar Heels head coach Matt Doherty walked on the court to check on his player. Chris Collins was jawing at him as he helped Felton up. The shouting match continued and the Blue Devil guard pushed the other.
Things got a little heated there. I thought it was crazy that both teams had to deal with it, but Coach Krzyzewski handled it with class.
Collins, Doherty and Buckner were reprimanded by the ACC.
One decade ago today, Austin Rivers sunk this iconic buzzer-beater 🔥
A legendary edition of the @DukeMBB-North Carolina rivalry. @accnetwork pic.twitter.com/IUn7nUH0IN
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