Seth Trimble hits game-winning 3 to lift North Carolina over Duke
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The help side crashed down as the clock ticked under 5 seconds to play. Seth Trimble found himself wide open in the corner, North Carolina bench at his back, Tar Heel nation on his shoulders.
Derek Dixon found Trimble, who caught in the pocket, set his feet, and rose for a game-winning 3.
Trimble held the follow-through for a beat, then put his heads to the side of his head. Night, night.
Trimble’s triple gave North Carolina its first lead of the game with 0.4 seconds remaining. The Blue Devils didn’t get a shot off in the closing moments and No. 14 North Carolina celebrated a come-from-behind 71-68 win over No. 4 Duke.
Fans inside the Dean Dome thought the game had ended with Trimble’s trey. The stands emptied as a mass of Carolina blue flooded the court. Eventually, they cleared out to give Duke its last-gasp shot.
The Blue Devils threw a 3-quarters-court heave but it bobbled off fingertips and time expired. Fans who’d just been partying on the court came back for seconds.
“They whooped us last year,” Trimble, a senior, told ESPN after the game. “They whooped us in every way possible.”
The Tar Heels lost 87-70 at Cameron Indoor Stadium last year. In the regular-season finale, they lost 82-69 at home. The last win over Duke came on March 9, 2024. Trimble was the only player who saw the court on Saturday who was on that 23-24 squad.
He scored 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The corner 3 for the win was his only attempt from beyond the arc all night.
Caleb Wilson led the Tar Heels in scoring, with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Henri Veesaar added 13 and 11.
A triple from Veesaar with 1:40 to play tied the game.
Star Duke freshman Cameron Boozer missed layup attempts with 1:10 to play and 15 seconds to go that would have given Duke a lead. The latter play from Boozer came after a Trimble turnover.
The defensive stop allowed him a chance to redeem himself. And, boy, did he.
North Carolina was outscored by 12 in the first half. Duke opened the game with an 18-5 run to race out on the front foot. Carolina never let go of the rope. The Tar Heels closed the game on a 9-0 run and made each of their final 4 shots. The Tar Heels also held the Blue Devils scoreless over the final 2:51 to snap their 10-game winning streak.
The Tar Heels (19-4, 7-3 ACC) return to Durham on March 7 to face the Blue Devils (21-2, 10-1) in the rematch.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
