No. 1 Duke blitzes No. 17 North Carolina in the second half on the way to 76-61 win

No. 1 Duke’s depth was tested against No. 17 North Carolina on Saturday night, but the Blue Devils still easily sprinted away from the Tar Heels.

Duke (29-2, 17-1 ACC) went on a 20-2 run early in the second half in a 76-61 win over their arch rivals to cap a 17-1 record in ACC play this season. That run was powered by Dame Sarr and Maliq Brown, as the two played massive roles with Patrick Ngongba II watching the entire game from the bench and Caleb Foster playing just 11 minutes before suffering a right foot injury.

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North Carolina (22-9, 12-6) cut Duke’s lead to one at 41-40 less than a minute into the second half. With 10:59 remaining, the Blue Devils had a commanding 63-44 advantage, thanks to big plays from both Sarr and Brown.

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Brown, starting in place of Ngongba, scored a career-high 15 points and had nine rebounds in his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Sarr added 10 himself, and scored back-to-back baskets before immediately drawing an offensive foul during Duke’s flurry.

They helped support star freshman Cameron Boozer, who again posted another double-double in what was likely his final home game before entering the 2026 NBA Draft. The consensus favorite for the Wooden Award had 26 points and 15 rebounds. Boozer, who averages a double-double, has scored at least 10 points and grabbed at least 10 rebounds in seven of Duke’s last 10 games.

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Despite handing Duke its only ACC loss of the season in a 71-68 win at home on Feb. 7, North Carolina entered the regular-season finale as 18.5-point underdogs thanks to the absence of Caleb Wilson. The Tar Heels star suffered a broken right thumb as he was doing drills during his recovery from a fractured left hand.

Without Wilson, North Carolina was outmanned despite Duke’s injuries. North Carolina got Duke’s lead down to five at halftime after Foster left the game and Brown and Isaiah Evans were on the bench with two fouls.

How serious are Foster and Ngongba’s injuries?

Ngongba, who averages 10.7 points and six rebounds a game, was dressed out but had his right foot in a boot. He had 11 points in 19 minutes in Duke’s blowout win over NC State on Monday, and has scored at least 11 in his last five games.

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Foster, meanwhile, might have a more serious injury. The game was stopped as he grabbed at his right foot in the first half. He was visibly frustrated on the bench, and after receiving treatment on the sideline for a couple of minutes, went to Duke’s locker room.

He didn’t return to the court with the team at the start of the second half, and when he did appear back on the bench, his right foot was also in a walking boot.

Foster, Duke’s starting point guard, plays the third-most minutes on the team and is second to Cameron Boozer in assists per game. As he watched from the bench, Cameron’s twin brother Cayden played his most minutes since logging 34 against SMU on Jan. 10.

Cayden Boozer had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists across 29 minutes on Saturday night. Cayden has taken a back seat as his brother has solidified his status as a likely top-three pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, but could be an incredibly important piece for the Blue Devils in the postseason if Foster is sidelined for a significant amount of time.

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North Carolina earns No. 4 seed in ACC tourney

A third matchup this season between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils is looking quite possible.

Thanks to its win over Clemson, North Carolina is the No. 4 seed for the ACC tournament behind Duke, Virginia and Miami. If the Tar Heels and Blue Devils both win their quarterfinal games, they’ll meet each other in the semifinals of the ACC tournament in Greensboro on Friday night.

Duke, meanwhile, capped its best two-season run in ACC play since the turn of the century. After going 19-1 in the conference a year ago, Duke is now 36-2 in the ACC over the last two regular seasons. The Blue Devils hadn’t lost fewer than three ACC games in a single season since 2005-06, and the back-to-back one-loss seasons are the best run for the program since it went 46-2 in ACC play across the 1997-98, 1998-99 and 1999-2000 seasons.