CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Top-seeded Duke advanced to the ACC Tournament championship game with a 74-71 win over rival North Carolina on Friday, March 14. The Blue Devils (30-3) had five players in double-figures and withstood a second-half rally by the Tar Heels (22-13) to earn Duke’s 36th appearance in the conference tournament title game, while moving to 3-0 on the season against its rival.

Kon Knueppel led Duke with 17 points and was joined in double-figures by four teammates – Khaman Maluach (13), Sion James (12), Patrick Ngongba II (12) and Tyrese Proctor (11). Ngongba posted a new career high with his 12 points, shooting a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, while also pulling down three rebounds, dishing two helpers and blocking one shot in 17 minutes.

Duke finished the game with 13 assists, led by Knueppel with three. Maluach shot 6-of-8 (.750) from the field, while finishing one rebound shy of a double-double, grabbing a team-high nine boards, while also blocking two shots. With the win, Duke improved to 3-0 against North Carolina this season. The Blue Devils have now won three games in a single season the Tar Heels four times in the last 40 years (1987-88, 1998-99, 2001-02). 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A dunk by North Carolina started the scoring, but Tyrese Proctor quickly responded with a mid-range jumper. Both defenses held strong in the opening stretch, as Duke trailed by just one, 5-4, at the first media timeout. Two technical free throws by Proctor, followed by a Patrick Ngongba II layup, extended Duke’s lead to five, 14-9.
• Kon Knueppel drilled the game’s first three-pointer, putting the Blue Devils in front, 17-13 and Caleb Foster followed with a steal and layup to give Duke the six-point edge. Triples from Sion James and Knueppel helped push the margin to double-digits, 27-17, at the under-eight break.
• A quick five-point burst by the Tar Heels pulled the margin within six, 30-24. The Blue Devils answered with a driving layup from Ngongba and two free throws via Foster, reestablishing the 10-point advantage. Back-to-back layups from Maluach and a three-point-play by Knueppel, coupled with a scoring drought of over three minutes for North Carolina, put Duke in front by 18, 42-24.
• Duke’s defense held North Carolina scoreless for the final 5:03 of the first half and closed the frame on a 15-0 run, taking a 45-24 lead into the locker room. Maluach connected on a three-pointer early in the second half, giving Duke its largest lead of the night so far, 52-28. North Carolina responded, scoring nine in a row, before Ngongba slammed home a dunk with 13:47 on the clock.
• Consecutive alley-oops from Maluach helped slow North Carolina’s momentum, with Duke holding a 15-point lead, 61-46, following a free throw by Knueppel at the 10:07 mark.
• North Carolina pulled within 10, 66-56, after two free throws. Duke called timeout with 6:12 and scored four quick points with consecutive paint buckets from Ngongba. A seven-point burst by North Carolina made it a four-point game, 70-66, out of the final media timeout of the contest. Proctor snapped the run with a mid-range jumper but the Tar Heels responded with two points of their own to stay within striking distance.
• Six of North Carolina’s final eight points came from the free throw, as the Tar Heels got as close as one point, 72-71, but Knueppel iced the game with two makes from the charity stripe in the waning seconds.
• NOTESDuke advances to the ACC Tournament championship game for the second time under head coach Jon Scheyer and for the 36th time in program history, entering Saturday with a 22-13 (.629) record with the conference title on the line.
• Saturday will be Duke’s fifth trip in the last eight ACC Tournament championship games, posting a 3-1 record in title contests since 2017, and capturing tournament crowns in 2017, 2019 and 2023.
• The 2024-25 Blue Devils pulled off the first three-game season sweep of North Carolina since the 2001-02 campaign.
• This is the fourth time Duke has defeated the Tar Heels three times in the same season since 1967 (1987-88, 1998-99, 2001-02, 2024-25).
• Duke picked up its 30th win of the season, improving to 30-3 overall for the campaign. Duke has now registered 17 campaigns with at least 30 wins, most recently accomplishing the feat in 2021-22. 
• Friday night marked the 24th game between the two rivals in the ACC Tournament.
• The Blue Devils are now 15-9 against the Tar Heels in the event, including a 9-3 record in the semifinal round, with six wins in seven of those semifinals since 1980.
• Duke is now 23-8 when playing ACC Tournament games in Charlotte, N.C.
• With the win, Duke improved to 36-14 (.720) when playing in the semifinal round of the ACC Tournament.
• Duke closed the first half with 15 unanswered points, holding North Carolina without a point for the final 5:03 of the opening frame. 
• North Carolina’s 24 first-half points marked the lowest scoring first half of the Tar Heels’ season.
• Duke won the rebounding battle, 34-31, and has finished with a positive margin on the glass in all but seven games this season.
• North Carolina entered the game ranked as the second-highest scoring offense in the conference, averaging 81.1 points per game.
• Duke’s defense limited the Tar Heels to 71 points, 10.1 below their season average.
• North Carolina was held to 3-of-17 (.176) from beyond the arc, its lowest percentage from deep this season.
• Duke has now connected on at least one 3-pointer in 1,258 straight games, the second-longest streak nationally.
• Kon Knueppel scored 17 points to lead the team, including 3-of-5 (.600) from beyond the arc and two key free throws in the final seconds to put Duke ahead by three.
• Knueppel also tallied four rebounds, three assists and one steal.
• Patrick Ngongba II scored a career-high 12 points, going a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, including three dunks.
• The freshman also posted three rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot in 17 minutes of action off the bench.
• Khaman Maluach registered 13 points on 6-of-8 (.750) from the field and led the team on the glass with nine rebounds. 
• Sion James scored 12 points and contributed four rebounds and two assists.
• Tyrese Proctor rounded out Duke’s double-digit scorers with 11 points. He also secured three caroms, to go along with two steals and one assist.
• Caleb Foster came off the bench to spark a first-half rally, collecting six points, three boards, two steals and an assist in 10 minutes of action before intermission. 
• QUOTES“I’m not sure I’m going to be able to give you the best rundown of that game. It’s still a blur to me. I thought our team had incredible fight stepping up, ‘Coop’ (Cooper Flagg) and Maliq (Brown) being out, and I thought Tyrese (Proctor) and Kon (Knueppel) in particular, they just had a great presence about them. Our defense was great in the first half. And then in the second half, we knew they’d put more pressure on their defense with their transition and probably had a couple turnovers we wish we could have back to get them going. But, you have to make enough winning plays, and tonight we made one more winning play than they did to get the win. A ton of respect for them. We knew this would be a heck of a game, and couldn’t be more proud of our team, but these two guys sitting next to me with what they did. I want to say one more thing about both of them. Kon’s two free throws were huge, puts us up three, that was a big difference. I thought Tyrese had the shot of the game. We were up four. We couldn’t score. They were scoring down every time down. He had a pull-up to put us up six, where it rolled in. That was a big basket for us, to get some breathing room. But really proud of our team.” – Duke head coach Jon Scheyer
• “It was a roller coaster up-and-down. I think our guys were really level headed the whole way, and we all believe in each other and trust each other, and I think that’s when we play our best basketball, when we’re playing together.’ – Duke junior guard Tyrese Proctor
• “We were just holding them to one shot, getting the rebound, and we were living in their paint, and that’s something we want to do as a team all the time, and we did that very well in that run.” – Duke freshman guard/forward Kon Knueppel – about the keys to the first-half run
• UP NEXTNo. 1-ranked and top-seeded Duke will play in the ACC Tournament final on Saturday, March 15. The Blue Devils (30-3) will face either Louisville (26-6) or Clemson (27-5), tipping off at 8:30 p.m., on ESPN. 

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