For a moment, it felt like the luster of North Carolina basketball was starting to fade under Hubert Davis. The past few seasons had been rough by Chapel Hill standards - three finishes outside the AP Top 25 in four years, a historic stumble as the first-ever preseason No. 1 to miss the NCAA Tournament entirely, and last year, the third-most losses the program had seen in two decades.
And heading into Saturday's clash with Duke, the vibes weren’t exactly trending upward. The Tar Heels had dropped three straight to their biggest rivals, and the oddsmakers had them as 6.5-point underdogs at home. Duke, meanwhile, came in riding a 10-game win streak, looking every bit the part of a national contender.
Early on, it looked like the script was writing itself - and not in UNC’s favor. The Blue Devils built a 13-point lead in the first half, and the online chatter turned brutal. Fans and pundits alike started lumping the Tar Heels in with other once-great programs like Indiana and UCLA, suggesting UNC’s best days were behind them.
But then, something clicked.
What followed was the kind of swing that reminds you why this rivalry is one of the best in sports. North Carolina clawed back, possession by possession, turning defensive stops into transition buckets, feeding off the energy inside the Dean Dome. The momentum shifted, and the Tar Heels didn’t just close the gap - they owned the moment.
It all culminated in a storybook finish. Seth Trimble, not exactly the first name you'd expect to take the final shot, stepped up and buried a game-winning three - a dagger that sealed UNC’s largest comeback win over Duke in the last 25 years.
The victory didn’t just snap a losing streak or quiet some critics. It changed the trajectory of the season. With that one shot, UNC surged up the NCAA Tournament seed lines and, just like that, Hubert Davis' squad was back in the national conversation.
It was a statement win - not just over a rival, but over the doubts that had been creeping in around the program. North Carolina basketball isn’t going anywhere.