The North Carolina Tar Heels beat the Duke Blue Devils in thrilling fashion on Saturday night, overcoming a 13-point halftime deficit to win 71-68 on Seth Trimble's last-second 3 from the corner. When that shot swished through, it gave the Heels their first lead of the game, but it came at the perfect time to cap off another ultra-entertaining rendition of the best rivalry in sports.
And the greatest thing about said rivalry is that we get, at minimum, two meetings between these teams each year. Sometimes we get three when they also face off in the ACC Tournament (as they have 24 times previously) or meet in the NCAA Tournament, as they've only done once (2022's epic Final Four matchup which doubled as Coach K's retirement party as the 8th-seeded Heels advanced to the national title game).
The rematch this year will take place on March 7, exactly one month after the first. That will also mark the final game of the regular season, making it the perfect time to make a statement to the tournament selection committee and head into the ACC Tournament on a high note. The Heels held serve at home, but it was by the skin of their teeth, and the task will be even taller on the road in Durham. What can the Heels take from their upset win? Let's highlight four musts for a regular-season sweep.
Exploit the Blue Devils' lack of depth by getting them into foul trouble again
If there's one thing that Carolina did right in the first half, it was getting Duke's big men into foul trouble. Carolina's two best players are star freshman Caleb Wilson, who stands 6-foot-10, and 7-foot Arizona transfer Henry Veesaar. Unlike last year's team, size is a strength for this Heels squad, but Duke is big, too. That's why it was so important for the Heels to saddle Boozer, Patrick Ngongba III and Maliq Brown with seven combined first half fouls.
Though Boozer played a clean game the rest of the way, Ngongba ended up fouling out with over six minutes left, and Brown finished the game with four. That paved the way for Veesaar to get aggressive and have a monster second half, and the entire Duke team looked pretty spent by time the final buzzer sounded since they only played eight players (and one of those only played three minutes).
The Blue Devils have most of the ingredients to be a national title contender, but quality depth is the one area that they're weak in. If the Heels can attack the rim and draw a bunch of early fouls again, it could give them a chance to silence the Cameron Indoor crowd and come away with another win.
Of course, this will be easier said than done because of where the game will be played. Duke gets an infamously good whistle at home, but because of the deep bag of fakes, up-and-unders, lean-ins and spins that Wilson possesses, he's shown that he can draw fouls anywhere, against anybody. He began to tire out down the stretch, but without his efforts early on, the Heels wouldn't have kept it close enough to make a comeback possible.
Get the ball out of Cameron Boozer's hands
The top of this year's freshman class could wind up being the best of all-time, but even amid such a crowded field, Boozer has as good a case as any to be called the best player in the country right now. He showed that off on Saturday with an impressive arsenal and a mature basketball IQ that allowed him to be Duke's primary offensive initiator and a nightmare matchup for whoever UNC put on him.
Boozer finished the night with 24 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists, but the Heels did force him into four uncharacteristic turnovers with some well-timed double-teams. It's not only uncharacteristic for Boozer; it's also uncharacteristic for Carolina, because they rank near the bottom of the entire country in turnovers forced.
It's not that the Heels can't force turnovers, it's that they prefer to play a more vanilla defense utilizing drop coverage and relying on their bigs to protect the rim and clean up the glass. Hubert Davis' defense is fifth in the country in 2-point field goal percentage allowed, precisely because they don't overcommit and try to jump passing lanes. After seeing how they were able at times to make one of the best playmakers in the country uncomfortable, though, it's clear that a selectively aggressive approach may be the way to go.
When these teams meet again, Carolina should turn the pressure up even more on Boozer. Double him more, especially when he catches the ball near the sideline, and try to force him into some more bad decisions. He attempted multiple leaping crosscourt passes to beat the double-team on Saturday, and the Carolina guards feasted on picking them off.
Establish Henri Veesaar from the jump
I mentioned above how critical Veesaar was to Carolina's comeback, but it really can't be overstated how badly they needed him to turn things around after halftime. He went into the locker room with zero points and zero rebounds, and yet finished with a 13-11 double-double. Not bad for only 20 minutes of work.
Whereas last year's Heels had no post presence to rely on in the wake of Armando Bacot's graduation, Veesaar has been rock solid in that role this season. He's averaging 16.6 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, and he's been instrumental in some of Carolina's biggest wins, including matching 8-for-12 performances from the field against Kansas and Kentucky.
Veesaar has also been a revelation as a floor-stretcher, as he's shooting 46 percent from the 3-point line this year. He only made 1-of-2 against Duke, but he couldn't have picked a much better time than draining one to tie the game with 1:40 left. Carolina can't afford to have Veesaar start slow again in Cameron, because Duke loves to bury teams early at home. He needs to give Wilson some support and bring it from the opening tip.
Do everything it takes to rebound better
Despite having size across the board, UNC is merely a good rebounding team, not a great one. That's an area where Duke excels, as they rank seventh in the country in rebounding percentage. Carolina, meanwhile, ranks 30th, and when they've gone against other elite rebounding teams like Michigan State and Virginia, they've been outrebounded handily (by a combined 23, to be precise).
Carolina's defense is good, but if the Heels don't protect the defensive glass, it will expose them to second-chance points, especially kick-outs to open looks from 3. Duke had 13 second-chance points in the first half on Saturday, but only four in the final 20 minutes. Without that attention to detail and improved effort down the stretch, there would have been no way for the Heels to win.
UNC is capable of getting out and running, but it's not as big a part of who they are as it has been in the past. Part of that is due to their lack of turnovers forced, as mentioned above, but really, they're just more comfortable grinding it out in the half court. Wilson can get his own shot or draw a foul anytime he wants, and if all else fails, dumping it down low to Veesaar usually works. Trimble is also outstanding at driving and drawing contact.
What this should mean is that Carolina's guards can crash the defensive glass since they're mostly not looking to run anyway. Derek Dixon is 6-foot-5. Jonathan Powell (who needs more minutes, by the way) is 6-foot-6. So is Luka Bogavac. There's no excuse to be giving up 10 offensive rebounds to anybody.
Duke will have revenge on its mind when these teams get together for another must-watch showdown next month, and the Cameron Crazies will be living up to their name. If the Heels want to establish themselves for real as national championship contenders, they need to execute everything on this list.