North Carolina won its first game against rival Duke this season on a buzzer beater that yielded two court stormings.
One left a Blue Devils staffer with a bloody lip, setting up what could be a wild rematch on Saturday night.
Adding to it: Duke is now No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and playing its best basketball of the season.
“These guys have just put their head down, thrown themselves into the work,” coach Jon Scheyer said. “They’ve grown as much as any team that I’ve coached and to see how they’ve come together and how connected they are on defense and offense — that’s the thing I’m most proud of.”
Duke’s run to No. 1 started after then-No. 14 North Carolina’s stunning 71-68 win Feb. 7 in Chapel Hill.
Seth Trimble provided the heroics, hitting a corner 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds left. That led to chaos as fans who rushed the court had to be cleared when the officials determined more time was on the clock. A second court storming left the Duke staffer trampled and bloodied.
The Blue Devils took it out on their next seven opponents.
Duke has reeled off seven straight dominant wins since the loss, holding teams to an average of 58 points per game while winning by an average of 22 points.
The latest: a 93-64 beatdown of N.C. State that clinched the outright ACC regular-season title, just hours after the Blue Devils were voted No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the 149th time, extending their own record.
No. 17 North Carolina had a letdown of sorts after the emotional win against Duke, losing at now-No. 22 Miami and N.C. State in a span of three games. The Tar Heels have won three straight since, climbing one spot in this week’s poll following wins over Louisville and Virginia Tech.
North Carolina has gone 4-1 since leading scorer and rebounder Caleb Wilson broke his left hand against Miami on Feb. 10.
“He’s moving in the right direction,” coach Hubert Davis said. “He worked out the day before the game, and just was dribbling, shooting, catching, like normal.”
Michigan-Michigan State
Another heated rivalry will be played on Sunday, when No. 3 Michigan hosts No. 8 Michigan State.
The Wolverines won the first meeting 83-71 at Michigan State on Jan. 30 behind Yaxel Lendeborg’s 26 points and 12 rebounds
Michigan wrapped up the Big Ten regular-season title with its 84-70 win over No. 11 Illinois on Friday, but lost backup guard L.J. Cason for the season with a torn ACL in his right knee.
Michigan State moved back into the top 10 after beating Indiana and No. 15 Purdue last week. The Spartans are fighting for the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with No. 9 Nebraska.
Vols and Commodores
No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 23 Tennessee play the only other game between ranked teams Saturday in Knoxville.
The Commodores made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years in their first season under coach Mark Byington and opened this season with 16 straight wins.
It’s been more of a struggle since SEC play started. Vanderbilt has lost three of its past four games — most recently to Kentucky — and is 9-7 in conference games heading into Tuesday’s matchup at Ole Miss.
The Vols remained in the AP Top 25 this week despite losing to Missouri and No. 16 Alabama last week. Perhaps more importantly, Tennessee is hoping star freshman Nate Ament won’t be out for an extended time after he injured his right leg against the Crimson Tide.
Ament is the Vols’ second-leading scorer at 17.4 points per game heading into Tuesday’s game at South Carolina.
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