CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina did everything it had to in order to upset seventh-ranked Duke on Saturday night, almost.

The Tar Heels had the Blue Devils by 13 points with 4:28 left and by 10 points with 2:07 left, but couldn’t hold on before losing 98-96 in overtime.

Carolina dropped to 10-13 overall and 3-9 in the ACC while Duke improved to 20-3 and 10-2.

Here are 5 Takeaways from UNC’s loss to the Blue Devils:

For the seventh time this season, the Tar Heels were victimized by an opponent’s big second-half run to either send the game into overtime, and later win, or win outright in regulation.

Carolina led Duke 77-64 with 3:56 left and 79-69 with 2:18 remaining, but the Blue Devils outscored UNC 20-7 over the final 3:56 and 15-5 over the final 2:18 to send the game into overtime.

Furthermore, the Heels led 96-91 with 20 seconds remaining in overtime but Duke scored the final seven points of the extra period to earn the victory.

So how did it happen? Simple: The Tar Heels were just 2-for-9 from the free throw line to close regulation, the Heels were 1-for-5 from the field and turned over the ball once. On the other end of the court, the Heels had no answers. A 3-pointer, a driving layup by Cassius Stanley, layup by Tre Jones, three free throws by Jones and then a jumper by the Duke point guard after he intentionally missed a free throw with 6.6 seconds left.

He got the ball after it clanked off the rim and hit a jumper sending the game into overtime.

“I think they just did a better job than us at attacking the basket, getting to the line,” Justin Pierce said. “They were the aggressors I thought at the end. A few things bounced their way, man. It’s basketball.”

The other six collapses: Ohio State 35-12 over the final 15:57 in early December to pull away; Virginia used a 16-3 run from 10:36 remaining to 3:00 left to secure a victory; Wofford used a 16-0 run in the second half at Carmichael Arena to put Carolina on its heels in a four-point Terriers’ win.

Pittsburgh outscored UNC 41-22 over the final 16:45 in the Smith Center to get a win; Clemson used a 12-2 run over the final 1:56 to send the game into overtime and later win in the Chapel Hill for the first time ever; and Virginia Tech outscored the Heels 23-11 overt he final 13 minutes to send that game into overtime in Blacksburg, and if you include the Hokies’ 19-11 advantage in OT, they outscored the Heels 42-22 over the final 18 minutes of that contest.

For much of the night, the Tar Heels looked like the Tar Heels getting up the court on the break, filling lanes, becoming available and finishing. On two occasions, 6-foot-10 freshman forward Armando Bacot was rewarded for busting down the court getting dunks off of excellent feeds.

Carolina opened with an 8-0 edge in fast break points and had a 16-8 advantage well into the second half.

“Just something we’ve been watching,” Bacot said about the improved transition game. “I felt like I could use my speed to an advantage with Vernon (Carey) guarding me, I just knew I could get some easy buckets just running. So, that’s what I tried to do.”

However, Duke scored the final 14 fast break points of the game and closed with a 22-16 edge in that department.

While Carolina did so many things right on offense in this game, the reality is the Heels turned over the ball 18 times leading to 25 Duke points. At halftime, the Devils had just six points off of five UNC turnovers, but thing unraveled late in regulation and the Heels were bitten by it again in overtime.

Garrison Brooks finished with five turnovers while Leaky Black and Cole Anthony had four each.

Movement, spacing, passing, cutting, awareness, recognition and so on were not a part of UNC’s offensive approach Monday night at Florida State, but all sure were here Saturday. Carolina assisted on 23 of 36 field goals, hit the post often when something was there, got some jumpers inside Duke’s late-game zone, skip passes, kickouts, swinging the ball for jumpers, interior passing and so on. It was an impressive display of offensive basketball and looked, dare it be said, a lot like how North Carolina usually looks.

Leaky Black being on the ball often and Cole Anthony off of it had a lot to do with this. Anthony attempted 22 shots in Tallahassee, but just 17 on this night – 13 in regulation - but scored 24 points.

He was far more efficient and Carolina was more efficient, even with its 18 turnovers and late-game meltdown. A few of the players said taking Anthony off the ball some resulted in a positive response in their performance.

“I think it was a positive effect because it allowed Cole not to have to dribble the ball down and he could just be able to be a scorer and not worry about facilitating,” Bacot said. “I just feel like it made the offensive flow a lot easier.”

The up-and-down production from the grad transfers has been one of the Tar Heels’ concerns this season, especially since it’s been more on the downside than positive. In this game, however, Christian Keeling and Justin Pierce did plenty to help the Tar Heels get a victory, as both showed why they were brought into the program for their final college seasons.

Keeling hit three consecutive shots in the first half moving an 18-12 lead to 24-14 and had another spurt in the second half. He finished the night with 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field, including converting the only 3-pointer he attempted. He played 25 minutes.

Keeling was coming off a 14-point performance in a loss at Florida State on Monday night and is playing the best basketball of the season.

“I just knew I had to contribute to the team, bring energy, defense and scoring off the bench,” Keeling said. “So, that’s what I tried to do in anyway to try to get my team to win. My biggest thing was just having fun, this is my last year, so I just wanted to have fun.”

Pierce hit consecutive field goals late in the first half – a driving layup and a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer turning a 37-33 lead to a 42-33 advantage. He finished with 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting, including 1-for-3 from the perimeter, and like Keeling, grabbed four rebounds.