Sports

Moments in the Duke/UNC rivalry when it was the absolute best to be a Tar Heel fan

Keeping It Heel · Jul 21, 2026 15:37 · 6 min read

Moments in the Duke/UNC rivalry when it was the absolute best to be a Tar Heel fan — Feb 5, 1992; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels center Eric Montross (00) looks to pass as Duke Blue Devils center Christian Laettner (32) defends in the Tar Heels 75-73 victory against the Blue Devils at the Dean E. Smith Center. Montross is playing with a cut below his left eye. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

These moments had Tar Heel fans feeling on top of the world!

There's no rivalry in sports like Duke vs. North Carolina on the basketball court.

This historic rivalry has brought us all some memorable (and sometimes, not so memorable) moments that we still talk about to this day. Of course, based on what side of the rivalry you're on, that ultimately depends on which games, highlights and key performances are talked about the most.

North Carolina has provided us with some amazing memories in this rivalry series. We could sit here for days talking about all of them, but the ones on the list below are the ones that made Tar Heel nation feel as if they were on top of the world.

"Un-bee-lee-va-ble!"

Tar Heel fans have heard that iconic call from the legendary Woody Durham many times, one that signifies one of the greatest comebacks we'll ever see in sports history.

Things were looking bleak for the Tar Heels at Carmichael Arena on 'Senior Night,' as they trailed by eight with 17 seconds remaining. Somehow, someway, UNC battled back, capped off by a Walter Davis game-tying bucket to send the game into overtime.

While Duke would regain the lead early in the overtime period, it was the Tar Heels who dominated the final stretch to secure a 96-92 victory.

Not only was that game gut-wrenching for Duke fans, but it was made worse by the fact that the Tar Heels escaped Durham a few weeks earlier with a buzzer-beating victory.

That season's meetings with the Tar Heels are a pair that Duke fans don't remember fondly!

Eric Montross earned, as he called "The Badge of Honor," during the 1992 meeting between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils.

Taking multiple elbows to the face, Montross played with multiple cuts on his face, most notably one that ran down his face below his eye. That didn't matter to the Tar Heels' big man, who powered through to guide UNC to an upset victory over Duke, which was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time and was riding a 23-game winning streak.

Well, the Tar Heels spoiled that streak!

Don't get it twisted: the Austin Rivers buzzer-beater still stings.

However, just a few weeks later, UNC got the revenge it needed, silencing Duke fans as the regular season wrapped up.

Behind 20 points from Kendall Marshall and a double-double outing from Tyler Zeller, the Tar Heels stormed into Durham to defeat the Blue Devils by 18 points.

The motivation for the smackdown was simple: Duke played the Rivers shot on the video board before tip-off. That's all the fuel the guys in Carolina Blue needed to smack their rival.

"There is a group at Duke who never experienced beating their rival at their home, and they will never know that feeling. I like to know that more than how it feels for us to win there."

Let's face it: the entire Tyler Hansbrough era at UNC was iconic in itself.

"Psycho T" and the Tar Heels tortured Duke during that era, as he, along with Danny Green, became the first UNC basketball players to ever finish 4-0 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

They secured that bit of history on February 11, 2009, when UNC rolled into Durham and defeated Duke by a score of 101-87. There's no doubt that Duke fans were thrilled to see Hansbrough graduate, but he'll always own them regardless of how long it's been since his college basketball days.

Before Duke fans get all crazy on us, let us start by saying this: No one was happy to see Zion Williamson get hurt.

Now that we've cleared the air...

All we heard about for WEEKS was Zion Williamson. Duke this, Williamson that.

Give us a break!

Williamson's shoe exploded 30 second into this meeting between the two heated rivals, absolutely silencing the crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

While Duke fans will blame the injury, Tar Heel fans remember quite well what happened over the final 19:30 of the game. North Carolina absolutely dominated.

Wasn't much noise coming from Duke faithful that particular night!

Greg Paulus is one of those former Blue Devils that Tar Heel fans couldn't stand.

Danny Green absolutely destroyed him on our behalf.

Not only did Green throw down this massive poster, he finished the night with 18 points. North Carolina scored the final 10 points of the game to capture the ACC regular season title, as the above highlight is what we all remember the most.

Antawn Jamison had the chance to throw down arguably the greatest dunk in the history of the Duke/UNC rivalry, but he unfortunately whiffed.

However, the Tar Heels didn't, building multiple big leads, including a 24-4 run to seal the deal, to absolutely destroy Duke by a final score of 97-73 on February 5, 1998.

When you smoke your rival, who was ranked No. 1 in the country at the time, it's easy to remember just how fun that night was.

When you reverse dunk on two defenders, you just KNOW you will forever live in the highlight reel!

A legendary double-overtime game, Stackhouse's slam was the highlight, but the win for the Tar Heels made that even more sweet, especially given that it occurred on enemy territory.

North Carolina wasn't supposed to even compete in what would be Coach K's final home game as the head coach of the Duke Blue Devils.

What felt like the end of the drawn out season-long retirement celebration for Coach K, Duke pulled all the stops in an effort to make his final home game a special one. Dozens of former players filled the seats, as everyone expected the current Blue Devils to wipe the floor with the Tar Heels.

Well, unfortunately for them, the Hubert Davis-led Tar Heels had other plans!

North Carolina spoiled the party, securing a regular season ending victory over Duke. The fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium were in complete shock, as what we all thought was Coach K's final game vs. his bitter rival ended in defeat.

Well, UNC had one more gift for Coach K before he set off toward retirement!

In the history of this rivalry, Duke and North Carolina never met in the Final Four prior to the 2021-2022 season.

Fittingly, that changed on April 2, 2022.

Hubert Davis, in his first season at the helm at UNC, squared off against Coach K, who was coaching in his final season at Duke with a trip to the national championship game on the line.

Similar to a few weeks earlier, no one thought the Tar Heels could pull off ANOTHER stunning victory over Duke. With what felt like the world being against them, North Carolina ended Coach K's career with a loss, a game that serves as the most iconic in the history between the two elite programs.

Caleb Love, take it away!

Still to this day, UNC has all the bragging rights in this rivalry due to this iconic victory. While the Tar Heels have suffered some losses against Duke in recent memory, nothing will top the two games in which they spoiled Coach K's retirement party, especially the lone Final Four meeting between the two squads.

When it mattered most, UNC came out on top. Until they meet again in the NCAA Tournament, nothing will top that win, and quite frankly, we might not ever see something that even comes close to it.