No. 2 Duke beats North Carolina, clinches ACC regular-season title

Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and Tyrese Proctor and Sion James both notched 16, and No. 2 Duke responded from a seven-point deficit in the second half to beat rival North Carolina 82-69 on Saturday night at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Duke clinched the outright regular-season championship in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Foul-plagued Cooper Flagg added 15 points for the Blue Devils (28-3, 19-1 ACC) to aid in the road victory and a two-game sweep of the regular-season series.

A loss would have sent Duke into a three-way tie for first place and resulted in the third seed for next week's ACC tournament in Charlotte.

RJ Davis scored 20 points and reserve Ven-Allen Lubin added 11 points for the Tar Heels. North Carolina (20-12, 13-7) was in desperate need of a quality victory to boost its NCAA Tournament hopes, but had its six-game winning streak snapped instead.

Duke's 22-5 run turned a 59-53 deficit into a 75-64 lead with 4:58 remaining.

The Blue Devils had reserve forward Maliq Brown back from a shoulder injury after missing four games, and he contributed a dunk and a 3-pointer during the surge. He later added another trey, matching his season total of two entering the game.

Duke shot 56.4 percent from the field to help counter 14 turnovers. Both teams made nine 3-pointers, but North Carolina needed eight more attempts.

North Carolina stormed back from a 15-point deficit to close within 41-40 with a 10-0 spurt sparked by Lubin and Davis late in the first half. Duke led 43-42 at the break despite Davis' 15 points.

Flagg was assessed his second foul slightly more than seven minutes into the game. Yet the Blue Devils made 12 of their first 16 shots from the field and went 7-for-8 on free throws for a 35-21 lead. Flagg's third foul came on an offensive charge with 3:18 left in the half.

--Field Level Media