Duke rallies, stuns top seed UNC, 93-83

Duke rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit, aided by North Carolina foul trouble, defeating the Tar Heels, 93-83, in the ACC Tournament semifinals Friday in Brooklyn.

UNC (27-7, 15-5 ACC) led 61-48 on a Kennedy Meeks layup with 13:53 to go, but point guard Joel Berry II was already on the bench with his fourth foul, picked up at the 15:04 mark.

With Berry out, the Carolina offense struggled, and Duke (26-8, 13-7 ACC) took advantage, with a 20-4 run over a 6:19 stretch that put the Blue Devils up three, at 68-65, on a Luke Kennard jumper with 8:24 to go.

An 11-2 Duke run over another 3:58 stretch broke a 70-70 tie and gave the Blue Devils control, with a Jayson Tatum dunk at the 2:31 mark putting Duke up nine, 81-72.

UNC would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.

Carolina led 49-42 at the break, getting 14 of their 20 first-half field goals on layups or dunks, dominating the post against a smaller Duke team.

The second half was a different story, though. The Heels were just 8-of-13 on shots at the rim in the second half, and this was a big factor in a woeful 12-for-42 (28.6 percent) effort from the field in the second half.

ACC Player of the Year Justin Jackson had an awful night, connecting on just 6-of-22 from the field and 3-of-11 from three-point range.

Meeks and Isaiah Hicks each had 19 to lead UNC. Meeks also had 12 rebounds.

Berry finished with 10 points in just 24 minutes with the foul trouble. His +10 plus-minus was indicative of the difference he could have had on the game without the foul issues.

UNC was up eight, at 56-48, when he left with his fourth foul at the 15:04 mark. When he returned, with 4:58 to go, Carolina was down 77-70.

Jayson Tatum had 24 points to lead Duke. Luke Kennard had 20, and Grayson Allen had 18.

Duke was 13-of-22 from the field (59.1 percent) and 20-of-23 from the line in the second half, and had a 33-14 advantage in points at the line for the game.

The Blue Devils were 10-of-17 from three-point range (58.8 percent). UNC was 5-of-22 (22.7 percent).