The clock was running down, his team was trailing by 2 points, he had a 7-foot shot blocker standing in front of him, all of that did not matter to Duke freshman guard Austin Rivers . Rivers made a 3-pointer with no time remaining to give the Blue Devils a 85-84 win over rival North Carolina and a share of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference with the Tar Heels and Florida State. The Blue Devils got a break earlier in the evening when Florida State lost to Boston College 64-60. Austin , son of former NBA player and current Celtics Doc Rivers, scored a season high 29 points.
Tyler Zeller led North Carolina with 23 points and 11 rebounds but made two critical mistakes in the final 15 seconds. He tipped a Duke shot into his own defensive basket. With Duke trailing by 3, Ryan Kelly attempted a three-point shot from the right sideline which was short. Zeller attempted to grab the ball as it was coming down but knocked it into the basket. Officials ruled the Zeller mistake putback was good for only 2 points meaning North Carolina still had a one-point advantage. On the ensuing inbounds pass, Zeller was fouled by Tyler Thornton to stop the clock and get possession again. Zeller made the first free throw to make the score 84-82 Tar Heels. Then, he missed the second one and Duke rebounded. Rivers took a pass from Mason Plumlee, dribbled across half court, moved to his right, and launched a shot from behind the three-point line. It was a gutsy play by the first year star to go for the win instead of trying a safer two-pointer from close range to tie. The ball swished through the basket as time expired. Rivers ran down to the other end of the court to celebrate with his teammates while his parents jumped up and down in the stands behind the Duke bench.
With 15:08 left to play, North Carolina led 57-44 after a three-pointer by Harrison Barnes. It was their biggest lead of the game, 13 points. The Tar Heels remained in control throughout the second half surviving several challenges by Duke. They still led by 10 points at 82-72 with two and a half minutes left following a made shot by Barnes. Then, the wheels fell off the Carolina wagon as they were outscored 13-2 to end the game. The Tar Heels committed two turnovers, an offensive foul, and made only 2 of 4 free throws in the final 2 minutes and 38 seconds of the game.
Duke and North Carolina share identical conference and overall records, 7 wins and 2 losses in ACC play, 20 wins and 4 losses for the regular season. Florida State has the same win-loss total (7-2) in league play but a poorer total overall (16-7).
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