Carolina comeback! Tar Heels rally in final minutes to stun Duke on Trimble shot

North Carolina’s first lead over Duke on Saturday night was the only one that mattered.

Seth Trimble’s 3-pointer from the corner in front of UNC’s bench with 0.4 seconds left gave the 14th-ranked Tar Heels a 71-68 comeback win over the No. 4 Blue Devils at the Smith Center.

“That shot was made by the perfect person at the right time,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “He’s deserving of being remembered forever.”

Trimble’s shot at the buzzer set off a wild celebration as students and fans stormed the court. But officials checked the replay and determined that 0.4 seconds remained. That caused UNC officials to plead with the fans to return to their seats. In the commotion, several Duke staff members were punched in the face, Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer claimed following the game.

After they did, Duke’s inbounds pass bounced harmlessly off two players and the buzzer sounded, officially ending the game. With that, UNC fans returned to the court for a second, lasting celebration.

Duke (21-2, 10-1 ACC) led by as many as 13 points in the first half, by 11 in the second half and was up 68-62 after Caleb Foster drove baseline to score with 2:51 to play.

But, as Duke failed to score again, Derek Dixon sank a 3-pointer and Henri Veesaar did the same for UNC, tying the game with 1:40 to play.

Cam Boozer, who led Duke with 24 points, missed a contested layup with 1:10 left and another with 15 seconds to play, denying the Blue Devils two chances to regain the lead.

“We got Cam going downhill,” Scheyer said. “You just know he’s gonna make the right play. Sometimes it goes in, sometimes it doesn’t. I’m taking what we got every day of the week, twice on Sunday. If I’m not sleeping, that’s not the reason at all. I liked what we got. We’re at the rim, and I thought he just missed, but good execution, and really like what he did there.”

Still, those misses gave UNC (19-4, 7-3 ACC) the chance to win and Trimble delivered, giving the Tar Heels their best start since 2018–19.

“I just think we had, unfortunately, three breakdowns in a row,” Scheyer said. “And again, there’s breakdowns the whole game both ways. Just, in closing time, that’s where you get one stop.”

Caleb Wilson scored 23 points to lead the Tar Heels, while Trimble added 16. Veesaar notched all of his 13 points in the second half as part of a double-double posted after halftime.

The Estonian native was -20 before the break, and +15 after.

Dame Sarr scored 13 points and Isaiah Evans scored 11 for Duke, which shot 37.5% after halftime to finish at 45.2% for the game.

UNC shot 60.7% in the second half and made five of seven 3-point attempts, including those last three 3-point attempts without a miss.

Caleb Wilson shows out, carries team early

Wilson hasn't hidden the fact that this Duke matchup was personal for him, what with the Blue Devils going quiet on him during the recruiting process (he claimed in a recent interview with Andscape) and the potential to prove he can hold his own against consensus top-3 NBA Draft pick Cam Boozer.

Wilson led all scorers with 17 points in the first half, more than the rest of his teammates combined.

“He basically put us on his back in the first half,” Davis said. “I felt like, for whatever reason, we were a little tight or a little too amped up... he’s the one that kept us close.”

The freshman also paced his team in rebounds with three before the break, which is saying a lot considering the Tar Heels’ overall struggles on the boards (more on that below).

Wilson’s 23-point outing is his fifth straight game with 20 or more points.

Duke decimates Tar Heels on boards

With just under five minutes remaining in the opening half, Veesaar leapt into the air and pulled down his first rebound of the game. It was UNC’s second offensive rebound at that point.

Veesaar and Wilson combined for five rebounds in a first half that saw the Blue Devils outrebound UNC, 22-11. For reference, North Carolina entered Saturday averaging 40 rebounds per game.

The Blue Devils finished with a 38-26 rebounding edge. That said, Davis complimented the team’s improvement on the boards in the second half.

“Henri stepped up,” Davis said. “He had zero defensive rebounds in the first half. He had a double-double in the second half. And so his ability to dominate points in the paint was huge for us.”

Matching up with the star freshmen

The biggest guessing game before Saturday’s game centered on the defensive matchups for Cam Boozer and UNC’s Wilson.

Would the coaches allow the two biggest freshman stars to guard each other? Would Duke use Dame Sarr or start Brown and put one of their quickest forwards on Wilson?

The answer: it was Boozer and Wilson going to head. At least to start.

Wilson got his game in motion after the Devils moved Brown, their best overall defender, on to Wilson.

Wilson hit a jumper over Brown and he was off, scoring 17 points in the opening half to keep the Tar Heels close. The Devils also used Sarr in the opening half but Wilson made five of his seven shots from the field — his teammates were a collective 4-of-20 — and all six free throws.

Boozer took on the defensive assignment for chunks of the second half and was more effective. Maybe it was the time they once spent together in AAU ball, but Boozer had a better feel for what Wilson wanted to do.

In the end, they both led their teams in scoring, but Trimble made the most important shot of the game.

This story was originally published February 7, 2026 at 8:58 PM with the headline "Carolina comeback! Tar Heels rally in final minutes to stun Duke on Trimble shot."