No. 1 Duke Defeats No. 17 North Carolina, 76-61, on Senior Night

Saturday, March 7

Durham, N.C.

6:30 p.m.

Duke University

29-2,17-1ACC

North Carolina

24-7,12-6ACC

North Carolina

Duke

No. 1 Duke Defeats No. 17 North Carolina, 76-61, on Senior Night

3/7/2026 9:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes (PDF)Duke Quotes (PDF)Opponent Quotes (PDF)

Blue Devils Unbeaten at Home for Third Time in Four Seasons under Scheyer

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 1 Duke (29-2, 17-1 ACC) closed the regular season with a rivalry victory, 76-61, over No. 17 North Carolina (24-7, 12-6 ACC) on Saturday, March 7, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils secured their second consecutive undefeated season at home and increased their home winning streak to 32 games with the 16-point victory over the Tar Heels.

Cameron Boozer scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, his 17th double-double and 10th with at least 20 points. Dame Sarr joined his classmate in double-figures with 10 points and Maliq Brown scored 15 points on Senior Night, Brown's highest point total in a Duke jersey during his two-year career in Durham. Isaiah Evans rounded out Duke's double-digit scoring with 11 points, highlighted by three 3-pointers.

The Blue Devils' defense held North Carolina to just 27 points in the second half, fueled by a stretch of 11 minutes where the visitors only made one basket, a fast-break dunk. On the glass, Duke finished with a plus-13 rebounding margin, 42-29, including a plus-13 advantage on the offensive glass (18-5).

HOW IT HAPPENED

Cameron Boozer opened the game's scoring after an offensive rebound and putback layup on Duke's first possession. Back-to-back layups from Maliq Brown gave Duke an early lead, 6-5, after four minutes of action.
Isaiah Evans connected on the Blue Devils' first triple of the night and Duke took an 11-9 lead into the first media timeout of the game. The two teams traded baskets through the next four minutes of action, helping the Blue Devils maintain a slight edge.
Duke's first double-digit lead came after a Boozer trifecta, pushing the lead to 11 points, 24-13, at the halfway mark of the first frame.
A three-pointer in transition by Caleb Foster moved the lead back to 10 and snapped a stretch of 1-of-7 shooting by the Blue Devils.
Eight quick points by North Carolina brought the visitors within three, 35-32, and led to a Duke timeout with 1:47 remaining before halftime. The Blue Devils scored two of the final three buckets of the half and took a two-possession lead, 39-34, into the break.
The Tar Heels opened the second half with a three-pointer and Cayden Boozer answered with a contested layup. Cameron Boozer added his second triple of the night just over a minute later, keeping Duke in front, 44-40.
Consecutive triples from Cayden Boozer and Dame Sarr expanded the margin back to nine points, 53-44, out of the under-16 timeout.
Duke exploded for 11 consecutive points, fueled by a Sarr fast-break dunk and a Brown three-pointer, forcing a North Carolina timeout with the Blue Devils in front by 14, 48-44. The run reached 16 unanswered, before a fast-break dunk by North Carolina made the score 63-46.
The lead grew to as large as 25 points, 71-46, as Duke's defense held North Carolina's half-court offense without a made shot for nearly 11 minutes of action.
North Carolina shaved 10 points of its deficit, making it a 15-point game with under two minutes remaining, but Duke comfortably closed out the 76-61 win.

NOTES

The Blue Devils completed their second consecutive undefeated home schedule and third in four years under Jon Scheyer.
- The Blue Devils have won 32 consecutive home games, including 19 straight against conference opponents, while posting a 63-3 (.955) home record under Scheyer.
- Duke has accomplished 21 total undefeated home ledgers in program history.
Duke has won 39 of its last 41 games against conference opponents.
Across the last two seasons, Duke owns the best record in Division I college basketball, at 64-6 (.914)
- Since Thanksgiving 2024, the Blue Devils have achieved a record of 60-4 (.938).
Scheyer tallied his 118th victory as head coach and moved past Brad Stevens for the most wins by a Division I coach in their first four seasons.
Duke logged its 11th ranked victory of the season and is 11-2 against top-25 foes this season.
- The Blue Devils had already secured ranked victories over No. 1 Michigan, No. 7 Michigan State, No. 11 Virginia, No. 15 Florida, No. 20 Louisville (twice), No. 20 Clemson, No. 22 Arkansas, No. 24 SMU and No. 25 Kansas.
- Duke extended its record-setting season, as the first team in the history of the ACC to win at least 11 regular-season games against ranked opponents.
Across the last 100 games in the Duke-North Carolina rivalry, Duke holds a 55-45 advantage.
- Duke is 49-40 when playing the Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Blue Devils have won six of the last nine matchups.
- The Blue Devils are 6-2 in the last eight games against UNC that Duke enters as the top-ranked team in the country.
Saturday's game was Duke's 296th played when ranked No. 1 in the country, ahead of UCLA's 257 for the best total all-time (since 1949).
- Duke is 254-42 when ranked No. 1 in the country.
- Since 1998, the Blue Devils have played 194 games as the top-ranked team, more than twice as many as the next best tally (84 by North Carolina), with a record of 164-30 in those contests.
Duke made 10 three-pointers, its fifth straight conference game with double-digit makes from beyond the arc.
The Blue Devils closed the season with six consecutive conference victories by at least 13 points.
- Across that six-game span, Duke's average margin of victory is 25.6 points.
The Tar Heels entered Saturday's game averaging 80.4 points per game, but were held to just 61, 19.4 points below their season average.
- Duke's defense held all but two of their 31 regular-season opponents below their scoring average this season.
Duke began Saturday's game holding its opponents to 62.5 points per game, the third-best scoring defense in the country.
- North Carolina was held just under that average, with 61 points.
Entering Saturday, Duke topped the ACC and ranked sixth nationally for rebounding margin (+10.4).
- The Blue Devils outrebounded the Tar Heels by 13 (42-29) and have finished with a positive margin on the glass in 27 games this season.
North Carolina ranked fourth in the league and 27th nationally for defensive rebounds (27.4) entering the game on Saturday, but the Tar Heels were limited to 24 defensive boards, aided by 18 offensive caroms by Duke.
Duke registered one scoring run of at least 10 points, reeling off 16 unanswered points, to increase its kill shot season total to 34.
The Blue Devils finished the game with 12 fouls. Duke is 68-3 (.958) under Scheyer when committing 15 or fewer fouls.
Maliq Brown, Jack Scott and Cameron Sheffield were recognized pregame during Duke's senior day ceremony.
Brown scored 15 points, the most in his two-year Duke career, on 6-of-9 shooting.
- The senior finished with 10 boards – four on the offensive glass and five on the defensive end - for the first double-double of his Duke career.
- Brown also swiped five steals, matching a career-high he had set four previous times.
Cameron Boozer scored 26 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, his 17th double-double of the season.
- Boozer's 17 double-doubles are the second-most by a Duke freshman and he has 10 double-doubles with at least 20 points.
- The 15 rebounds matched Boozer's career-high, previously set in Duke's win at Michigan State on Dec. 6, 2025.
- Boozer also led the team in assists, with five, while committing just one turnover.
- With his 26 points, Boozer eclipsed 700 career points (705) and is just the fourth Duke freshman in program history to score at least 700 points, joining RJ Barrett (860), Zion Williamson (746) and Cooper Flagg (709).
Isaiah Evans logged 11 points, highlighted by three triples.
- When Evans makes at least three 3-pointers in a game, Duke is 16-0 this season and 27-0 in Evans' career.
Dame Sarr rounded out Duke's double-digit scoring with 10 points, his second straight game in double-figures.
- The freshman made two triples and contributed on the glass as well, with three boards.
Cayden Boozer contributed in multiple stat categories with seven points, five rebounds and three assists, with just one turnover in 28 minutes of work.

QUOTES

"Maliq [Brown] was off the charts tonight. His impact on winning was unbelievable; five steals, [10] rebounds, 15 points. I love how assertive he was. And then, the other seven guys really impacted winning at a high level. Incredibly proud of this team to get 29 wins and to go 17-1 in conference. I thought for us, to be in a tight game at halftime was a great thing for us. I told our guys at half to not be dejected. When your teammate goes down, I think that can knock you back a little bit, and I thought it was a great answer for us in the second half in how we responded with our defense and pulled away." - Duke head coach Jon Scheyer

UP NEXT

No. 1 Duke (29-2, 17-1 ACC) opens postseason play in quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils will play their first game in Charlotte on Thursday, March 12 at 7 p.m., on ESPN.