It’s time for Carolina-Duke again, five weeks after the first meeting that was all Blue Devils.
This time, the game is inside the Smith Center with plenty on the line: For Duke, a win and the Devils outright win the ACC regular season. For UNC, a needed Quad 1 win to help its NCAA resume is basically a must.
UNC is 20-11 overall and 13-6 in the ACC while Duke is 27-3 and 18-1.
The game tips at 6:40 PM and will air on ESPN.
Here are a bunch of related notes as the greatest rivalry in American sports is almost here for its next chapter:
• Carolina, winner of six straight games, hosts Duke in the regular-season finale on Saturday at 6:40 p.m.
• The Tar Heels are 20-11 overall, 13-6 in the ACC.
• The six-game winning streak is Carolina's longest of the season (also had a four-game ACC win streak in January).
• The second-ranked Blue Devils are 27-3, 18-1 in the ACC. Duke has won seven in a row since its only conference loss on February 8 at Clemson.
• This is the eighth time in the ACC era UNC and Duke will play when both teams have won at least six straight entering the game (first time since 3/3/2012).
• Carolina has won six in a row for the first time since an eight-game streak last February 17-March 15.
• Duke is the final home game for graduate students RJ Davis, Jae'Lyn Withers and Ty Claude. Davis has played five seasons at UNC, Withers is in his second and Claude his first.
• Davis will be playing in his 170th game as a Tar Heel, surpassing former teammate Armando
Bacot for the all-time ACC and UNC records. Entering this season the NCAA record was 178 by Iowa's Jordan Bohannon.
• The Tar Heels' 91-59 win at Virginia Tech on Tuesday gave Carolina its 65th 20-win season and its fourth in as many seasons under head coach Hubert Davis.
• Davis is the first UNC coach to win 20 or more games in each of his first four seasons.
CAROLINA-DUKE
• The Tar Heels are 145-118 all-time against the Blue Devils. The 145 wins are the third most against any opponent (168 vs. NC State and 165 vs. Wake Forest).
• No other opponent has beaten Duke more than 105 times.
• Carolina is 66-39 at home vs. Duke, including 21-18 in the Smith Center.
• The Tar Heels are 4-4 under head coach Hubert Davis.
• Carolina and Duke are No. 1 and 2 all-time in the ACC in wins, ACC regular-season wins, ACC Tournament wins, NCAA Tournament wins, Final Fours and NCAA championships.
• Carolina has won the ACC regular-season title 33 times. The Blue Devils are second with 21.
• Carolina and Duke have played in the Final Four a combined 27 times in the last 44 seasons.
• The Tar Heels and Blue Devils have combined to win 11 national championships, including six by Carolina (1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009, 2017) and five by Duke (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015).
• The last time UNC beat Duke when the Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 or 2 was 2/20/2019, when the eighth-ranked Tar Heels knocked off No. 1 Duke, 88-72, in Durham behind Luke Maye (30 points, 15 rebounds) and Cameron Johnson (26 points).
• The Tar Heels are 10-20 when Duke is ranked No. 1 or No. 2 in the AP poll, including Duke's 87-70 win on February 1.
• Duke led by 22 at the half at Cameron last month as the Tar Heels shot 29.6% from the floor and scored 25 points in the first half, both season lows.
• The Blue Devils converted 14 Carolina turnovers into 19 points. Duke hit 10 of 20 three-pointers and outscored the Tar Heels, 21-11, from the free throw line.
• Carolina shot 64.3% and scored 45 points in the second half. RJ Davis and Drake Powell led with 12 points apiece, the fewest by UNC's leading scorer in a game this season.
CAROLINA THIS SEASON
• This is the 55th time in 72 years of competing as a member of the ACC the Tar Heels have won 20 or more games.
• The win in Blacksburg was Carolina's 13th ACC win this season and its 56th in four seasons under Davis (56-23).
• Only one other school (Duke with 63) has more regular-season ACC wins in the last four seasons. Following Duke and UNC are Clemson 50, Virginia 48, Wake Forest 46, Pitt 39, Miami 37, Virginia Tech 37, Syracuse 36, Florida State 34, Notre Dame 32, NC State 30, Georgia Tech 28, Louisville 28 and Boston College 27.
• Entering the final day of the regular season the Tar Heels are tied for fourth in the ACC at 13-6. Duke (18-1), Clemson (17-2) and Louisville (17-2) hold the top three spots, followed by Carolina and SMU at 13-6. Wake Forest is sixth at 12-7 and Stanford is seventh (11-8).
• The Tar Heels defeated SMU, 82-67, in Chapel Hill on January 7 in their only meeting this year.
• The 72nd ACC Tournament begins Tuesday, March 11, at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte. The top four teams get double byes to Thursday's quarterfinals. Seeds 5-8 get a bye to the second round on Wednesday.
• Carolina made a season-high 15 threes, shot 58.9% from the floor and 53.5% from three, dominated the boards and had a season-best 24 assists in the 91-59 win at Virginia Tech on Tuesday.
• Ian Jackson (19) and Seth Trimble (17) led five players in double figures. For the first time in program history, five Tar Heels have scored in double figures in four consecutive ACC games.
• Ven-Allen Lubin grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds, leading UNC to a 38-27 advantage on the boards. The Tar Heels have outrebounded their opponents by 10 or more in each of the last five games, also the first time UNC has ever done that in ACC play.
• Carolina shot 58.9% from the floor in the last two games. It was the first time UNC shot that high a percentage in consecutive games since the 2008 NCAA Tournament, when UNC shot 60.6% vs. Mt. St. Mary's and 67.7% vs. Arkansas.
• Carolina went 6-6 on the road this season, including 5-5 in the ACC.
• Carolina is 24-16 in ACC road games under head coach Hubert Davis.
UNC NOTEBOOK
High-Scoring Heels: The Tar Heels have scored 545 points in the last six games, an average of 90.8 points per game. This is the first time UNC has scored 80 or more in six straight ACC games since a seven-game stretch from January 3-26, 2017.
• In the last three games, UNC scored 96 at Florida State, 97 vs. Miami and 91 at Virginia
Tech (94.7 ppg). It is the first time UNC scored 90 or more points in three straight ACC games since January 8-14, 2017. It is the first time UNC scored 90 or more in three straight games against any opponents since a four-game stretch in 2018-19 (Elon, Stanford, Tennessee Tech and Saint Francis).
• Carolina has a margin of victory of 17.8 points over the last six games. The Tar Heels entered the Syracuse game on February 15 with a margin of victory of 3.4 points over the first 25 games.
• Prior to this six-game run of 80-plus point games, the Tar Heels had scored more than 75 points just once in the previous seven games (102 in an overtime win over Boston College) from January 18-February 10.
• Duke and Carolina rank one-two in scoring among ACC teams in all games. The Blue Devils are averaging 83.5 per game with UNC second at 82.1 per game.
• This is Carolina's highest scoring average since 2018-19, when the Tar Heels scored 85.6 per game.
• Four different Tar Heels have led or co-led in scoring over the last six games (Ian Jackson vs. Syracuse, Virginia and Virginia Tech; RJ Davis vs. NC State and Florida State; Jae'Lyn Withers vs. Virginia; and Ven-Allen Lubin vs. Miami.
Lead Time: The Tar Heels have led for more than 30 minutes in each of the last six games and for more than 38 minutes in three of those games. Prior to the last six games, Carolina led for 30 minutes in seven of its first 25 games.
• Carolina has led for 218 minutes and 46 seconds out of a possible 240 minutes beginning with the win at Syracuse on February 15.
• The Tar Heels have not trailed in the second half in any of the last six games, nor have they been tied in the second half in the last five (Syracuse and UNC were tied twice for 49 seconds in the second half).
Halftime Leads: Tied at 23 with 7:00 to play in the first half, the Tar Heels went on a 23-6 run to lead Virginia Tech, 46-29, at the half.
• Carolina has led at the half in 16 of its 19 ACC games this season and won 13 of the 16, including the last six games (the three losses when leading at the half were to Stanford, at
Wake Forest and at Pitt, games UNC lost by one, one and eight points).
• In all games, the Tar Heels are 18-3 when leading at the break and 2-8 when trailing.
• Contributing to the six-straight halftime leads has been a prolific offense. The Tar Heels have scored 42, 54, 46, 49, 46 and 46 points in the first half in the last six games, an average of 47.2 points.
• The Tar Heels have shot at least 50% from the floor in each of the last five games (for the first time since 2008-09). Beginning with the win over NC State, UNC has shot 55.6, 56.0, 54.8, 51.6 and 54.8% in the opening 20 minutes.
• Carolina is 10-3 this season when it shoots 50% from the floor in the first half.
Crashing & Converting: Since being outrebounded by Pitt, Clemson and Syracuse, the Tar Heels are plus 70 on the glass in the last five games, outrebounding NC State, Virginia, Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech, 186-116.
• Carolina is 15-4 this season when it has more rebounds and just 5-7 when it gets beaten on the boards.
• Through the first 26 games, Carolina scored more than 15 second-chance points twice – 22 in the season opener vs. Elon and 18 vs. Dayton on November 25 – and averaged 10.0 second-chance points per game.
• In the last five games, the Tar Heels have scored 21, 17, 24, 18 and seven second-chance points, an average of 17.4 per game.
• UNC is 10-2 this season when it scores more second-chance points and 9-8 when the opponents score more.
• Ven-Allen Lubin leads UNC in offensive rebounds with 52, 23 of which have come in the last nine games. Lubin has three offensive boards in four of the last five games and leads the Tar Heels with seven games with three or more.
• Lubin has scored in double figures in each of the last five games, the first time he has done that in his first season as a Tar Heel.
• Seth Trimble, a 6-3 guard, continues to lead UNC in rebounding at 5.3 per game. He is on pace to become the shortest player to lead the Tar Heels in rebounding average since at least 1950. Bud Maddie (1952-53) and Larry Miller (1965-66) were both listed at 6-4.
• Withers grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds against Miami, registering his second-double in three games (16 & 11 vs. Virginia), third of the season, fifth as a Tar Heel and 10th as a collegian.
• Trimble has three point/rebound double-doubles this season (27 points and 10 rebounds vs. Dayton, 18 and 12 vs. Boston College and 10 and 12 at Pitt).
• Lubin had 10 points/11 rebound at Virginia Tech, his first double-double as a Tar Heel and the seventh of his career.
Three-Point Barrage: For the first time since the 2022 NCAA Tournament the Tar Heels have made 10 or more three-pointers in three straight games, connecting for 10 against both Florida State and Miami and a season-high 15 at Virginia Tech.
• The 15 threes in Blacksburg tied the most in a game in Hubert Davis' four seasons as head coach and were the most since UNC made 15 against Clemson in 2023. It was the seventh time ever Carolina made 15 or more threes in a game.
• Not only did seven different Tar Heels make threes, Carolina shot 53.6% from three in outscoring the Hokies by 24 points from beyond the arc. It was the second-largest margin for UNC from three-point range this season (plus 27 in the win at Syracuse that began the six-game win streak).
• Carolina has made 65 of 136 three-pointers over its last six games, converting 47.8%.
• The Tar Heels have made 13, 8, 9, 10, 10 and 15 threes in the last six games since tying their season low with four in the loss at Clemson on February 10.
• Through the first 25 games the Tar Heels had made 32.3% from three (31.7 in ACC games).
• In the last six games, Ian Jackson is 17 for 28 (60.7%), Jae'Lyn Withers is 13 for 23 (56.5%), RJ Davis is 13 for 36 (36.1%), Drake Powell is 7 for 13 (53.8%), Seth Trimble is 5 for 13 (38.5%), and Cade Tyson is 4 for 8 (50%).
• Jackson made five three-pointers at Virginia Tech, the third time he's made five in a game, and all three were on the road (also at NC State and Syracuse).
• Jackson is shooting 41.4% from three this season, the fifth-highest percentage in the ACC among players who have made 50 or more. Only one other freshman in the ACC has made 50 or more threes at a higher percentage (Duke's Isaiah Evans).
• The Tar Heels are 18-4 this season when they make 30% or better from three-point range and 2-7 when they make less than 30% of its three-point attempts (wins over Georgia Tech and Notre Dame).
• The Tar Heels have shot better than 40% from three-point range in six of the last eight games, something they had done only three times in their first 23 games.
• The Tar Heels are 8-1 this season when shooting 40% from three. UNC beat Elon (40.6%), lost to Michigan State in overtime (47.8), and defeated SMU (50.0), Pitt (46.7), Syracuse (46.4), NC State (40.0), Virginia (56.3), Miami (55.6) and Virginia Tech (53.6).
• Carolina has made 50% or better of its threes in four games this season, including three of the last four games (wins over SMU, Virginia, Miami and Virginia Tech).
• Conversely, the Tar Heels have shot 31 for 114 (27.2%) from three-point range in their last five losses.
• Overall, Carolina is shooting 39.5% from three in its 20 wins and 28.0% in the 11 losses.
• For the season, UNC is up to 35.4% from three, slightly lower than its percentage last season (35.9%).
Scoring Efficiency: The Tar Heels are 20th in the country in offensive efficiency, 23rd in scoring 29th in field goal percentage and 37th in fast-break points.
• Carolina's offensive efficiency at Virginia Tech was 135.0, its sixth consecutive game with an offensive efficiency (points per 100 possessions) of 124.0 or better.
• It was the fourth-highest in an ACC game. Four of the top five have come in the last five games.
• This is the third time in Hubert Davis' four seasons as head coach the Tar Heels rank in the top 25 in the country (out of 364 teams) in offensive efficiency (18th in 2021-22, 51st in 2022-23, 15th in 2023-24 and 20th in 2024-25).
• The Tar Heels are 14-1 this season when holding opponents at or below 105 points per 100 possessions. Wake Forest (92.0 ppp) is the only team to beat UNC despite scoring 105 or fewer points per 100 possessions.
• Carolina has outscored its last five opponents, 212-128, in the paint. UNC is 19-7 when it has equal or more paint points and 1-4 when the opponents have more.
• Carolina is shooting 55.8% from two-point range, its highest two-point percentage since the 1997-98 ACC champion and NCAA East Regional champion Tar Heels shot 56.5% from two-point range.
• RJ Davis leads Carolina in plus/minus for the season at plus 175 with Ven-Allen Lubin second at plus 131.
• Over the last six games, freshman Drake Powell leads at plus 108 (+13 at Syracuse, +15 vs. both NC State and Virginia, +13 at Florida State, +22 vs. Miami and +30 at Virginia Tech).
• Davis has the second-best plus/minus over the last six games at plus 98.
• Powell has led UNC in plus/minus nine times this season, most on the team. Seven of the nine games he led UNC were ACC games.
RJ Third in ACC Scoring: RJ Davis is Carolina's second-leading scorer all-time with 2,620 points and is third in ACC career scoring.
• The White Plains, N.Y., native is averaging a career-high 3.8 assists this season. His previous season bests were 3.6 per game in 2021-22 and 3.5 last season.
• Davis, Duke's Cooper Flagg and Pitt's Jaland Lowe are the only players in the top 10 in the ACC in both scoring and assists.
• Davis leads Carolina and is seventh in the ACC in scoring at 17.2 points per game and is 10th in the league in assists.
• Davis is Carolina's all-time leader and sixth in ACC history with 340 three-pointers. Trajan Langdon (Duke) is fifth with 342.
POINTS – CAREER, UNC
Player Years Points
Tyler Hansbrough (2005-09) 2,872
RJ Davis (2020-) 2,620
Armando Bacot (2019-24) 2,347
Phil Ford (1974-78) 2,290
Sam Perkins (1980-84) 2,145
• Davis leads the ACC in free throw shooting at 87.9%. He has the highest free throw percentage ever by a Tar Heel (86.3%), ninth best in ACC history.
• Davis led the ACC in free throw percentage in 2022-23 and was third last season. He is on pace to become the first Tar Heel to lead the ACC in free throw shooting twice.
• Davis' career scoring average is 15.5, the eighth-highest by a Tar Heel guard.
• Last year, Davis became the 19th Tar Heel to earn consensus first-team All-America honors. Those 19 players have won consensus first-team All-America honors a total of 28 times.
• Davis joined Lennie Rosenbluth in 1957, Phil Ford in 1978, Michael Jordan in 1983 and 1984, Kenny Smith in 1987, Jerry Stackhouse in 1995, Antawn Jamison in 1998, Joseph Forte in 2001 and Tyler Hansbrough in 2008 and 2009 as the only Tar Heels to make first-team All-America on each of the teams the NCAA recognizes to determine consensus first-team All-America.
