North Carolina’s last decade has been packed with moments that Tar Heel fans still replay in their heads, and the stretch from No. 7 through No. 5 on this countdown delivers three of the biggest. There’s the game everyone remembers for Zion Williamson’s shoe, the night Cormac Ryan took over Cameron Indoor and sealed an ACC title, and Luke Maye’s shot that still sits near the top of Carolina basketball lore.
No. 7 on the list is North Carolina’s 88-72 win over No. 1 Duke on Feb. 20, 2019, in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Nationally, it’s forever the “Zion Williamson shoe game,” thanks to the Blue Devils star blowing out his Nike just 33 seconds into the contest. But for Carolina, the lasting memory is Luke Maye’s huge night.
Maye put together a monster performance, finishing with 30 points and 15 rebounds. That made him just the second player in college basketball history to post a 30-point, 15-rebound game against the nation’s top-ranked team.
Cam Johnson added 26 points, and the Tar Heels controlled the paint with a 62-28 edge in points in the paint. The win also gave Roy Williams his NCAA-record eighth victory over the AP No. 1 team, with former President Barack Obama in the building to watch it all unfold.
A few years later, Carolina went back into Cameron and left with another statement win. On March 9, 2024, No.
7 North Carolina beat No. 9 Duke 84-79 to clinch the ACC regular-season championship outright.
That night belonged to Cormac Ryan. After a season that had plenty of ups and downs following his transfer from Notre Dame, Ryan delivered the game Tar Heel fans had been waiting for, scoring a career-high 31 points and knocking down six three-pointers. Harrison Ingram added a double-double, and Carolina completed the season sweep of Duke while securing the program’s 33rd ACC regular-season title.
The celebration carried over long after the final buzzer. Ryan held the championship trophy atop the team bus as thousands of fans lined Franklin Street.
Then there’s the shot that lives in NCAA Tournament history. On March 26, 2017, North Carolina edged Kentucky 75-73 in the Elite Eight behind Luke Maye’s near-buzzer-beating jumper.
Malik Monk had tied the game in the closing seconds, and it looked like Carolina’s Final Four push was headed to overtime. Instead, Kennedy Meeks quickly inbounded the ball to Theo Pinson, who moved it up the floor before finding Maye trailing the play. The sophomore reserve rose up from just inside the three-point line and knocked down the shot with 0.3 seconds left, sending the Tar Heels to the Final Four.
Maye finished with a career-high 17 points at the time, and the basket became one of the defining moments of the Roy Williams era. It remains one of the most replayed highlights in Carolina basketball history. Joel Berry II also battled through painful ankle injuries, and Stilman White made timely contributions in a win that only added to the legend of the moment.
These three games each carry their own kind of weight: a rivalry blowout, an ACC title clincher, and a tournament shot that never seems to lose its shine. Together, they show exactly why Carolina basketball keeps producing memories that stick.
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National Take On Michael Malones First UNC Offseason Will Frustrate Tar Heels
Michael Malones first offseason in Chapel Hill has already drawn a national read, and it was not especially flattering. CJ Moore of The Athletic took a close look at North Carolinas roster build and came away with a mixed verdict, pointing to the new pieces the Tar Heels did add while also questioning whether the overall group has enough to stack up with the better teams in the country.
The additions of transfers Neoklis Avdalas and Matt Able, along with recruit Maximo Adams, give UNC some reason for optimism, but the concern is what comes next on the roster. Moores bigger worry is the frontcourt, where the Tar Heels are trying to replace important production without a clear proven answer, leaving real uncertainty about whether this team is ready to open the season with top-25 expectations. [Read more 🡒]
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North Carolinas offseason makeover has been impossible to miss, with Michael Malone now steering the program and the transfer portal giving the roster a far different look than it had a month ago. There is real optimism around the additions, and some around the sport already see enough talent here to put the Tar Heels in the top 25 conversation, with a ceiling that could stretch even higher if the new pieces click.
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Another Quiet UNC Addition Just Raised The Stakes This Season
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He posted 12.1 points, 3.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game last season, production that suggests he can help in more than one area while the Tar Heels sort through a reshaped wing group. With several familiar names gone from the lineup, the opening for a meaningful role is there, and what UNC asks of him next will go a long way toward showing how quickly this team can settle into its new look. [Read more 🡒]