Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus #7 UConn on March 29, 2026 , Loss , 72, to, 73
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Final
Men's Basketball
72
vs #7 UConn
73
Duke-UNC Memories: Stunning Shot By West Topped Historic Day
2/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2004
By Johnny Moore
Blue Devil Weekly
DURHAM, N.C. - It was Jan. 22, 1972, the night that Duke Indoor Stadium was rechristened as Cameron Indoor Stadium, in honor of retiring athletics director Eddie Cameron.
Duke came into the contest against North Carolina with an unimpressive 7-6 record, 1-2 in the ACC. The 12-2 Tar Heels led the league in offense, field goal percentage, free throw percentage, rebounding and scoring. The only thing in Duke's favor seemed to be "psychology and all that intangible stuff," said the Durham Morning Herald. That, and the fact the Devils hadn't lost to Carolina at home in four years.
The hero of the game was Robby West, a senior from South Orange, N.J. With 31 seconds left, Duke was ahead by just one point at 73-72. A successful free throw by West was answered by a Carolina field goal and the score was tied at 74 with 13 seconds remaining.
Following a Duke timeout, play resumed with eight seconds left. West got the ball at center court and took it down to the top of the key. He shot two-handed over his head. The ball, seeming to explode from his curly black hair, caught nothing but net. The crowd couldn't believe what it had witnessed. The place was bedlam.
"I felt if I could get the ball and get down the court, I could get the ball off," explained West.
What a victory -- or so the students who swarmed the court thought. But officials decided there were three seconds left in regulation. After students returned to their seats, the game resumed with the Tar Heels in possession of the ball. They passed to the corner, where Bill Chamberlain took a shot that bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded. Then the real celebration began.
"I can still remember sitting in the locker room after the game with the net around my neck," said West. "What a great way to win the Duke-Carolina game."
West presented the game ball to Cameron following the game. A few days later, he gave the same ball to Cameron again for photographers. Later that year, Cameron got the ball again at the annual basketball banquet. Said Cameron, "They can keep giving me that ball as many times as they want, as long as they don't change the final score." It was 76-74, Duke. And for West, who is now a managing director of RBS Greenwich Capital in Chicago, the score and the game have always been a part of him.
"As I've gotten older, I've found that Duke and Duke basketball are part of what you do everyday," said West. "It stays with you forever."
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