By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — There was plenty of frustration from Carolina’s Armando Bacot after what could have been his last game at the Smith Center ended with so many missed opportunities.

The resignation to the Tar Heels’ plight after their 62–57 loss Saturday to Duke was evident on his face, knowing that it will probably take four wins next week at the ACC Tournament to guarantee they make the NCAA field.

“We’ve just going in with a mindset [that] we’ve just got to go win,” said Bacot, who said that he never thought his team would be in this position. ”It’s just something we have to do. We really don’t have a choice.”

The Tar Heels (19–11, 11–8 ACC) couldn’t make the big shots at the end or get enough stops in the final minutes against the Blue Devils (23–8, 13–7). UNC shot a season-low 30.4% for the game and the 26.7% shooting in the second half was the lowest in a second half this season.

“They made more plays than us,” said Bacot, who collected 17 points and 11 rebounds. “All game, we played solid defensively, but then they went to that high ball screen. It’s kind of hard because we’d hedge and then [Jeremy] Roach gets around it and they put us in a pinch. It was just tough at the end.”

The outside noise was deafening when Carolina was the preseason No. 1 team, and that put plenty of pressure on Bacot and the rest of the team. Now the Tar Heels face different pressure when they play either Boston College or Louisville on Wednesday, likely needing four wins.

“It was definitely difficult just because it was so much expectations,” Bacot said. “Pressure can get to everybody. We’re human.”

UNC coach Hubert Davis says he isn’t buying the “narrative” that his team has to win four games.

“My focus is on Wednesday,” he said. “I think it is important to focus on what is real and ahead of us. That is a game at 7 o’clock on Wednesday and that is where my focus is. I feel good about our team. I told them in the locker room that even though I was very sad, that I wasn’t done at all in terms of my confidence in what kind of team that this could become. My confidence in this team is not going to waver at all.”

Bacot’s dunk to start the game drew the highest decibel levels at the Smith Center all season as UNC scored the game’s first five points. Carolina started the game with huge energy, but not with much efficiency.

Duke responded with a 13–4 run to take a four-point lead on a pair of Kyle Filipowski free throws with 11:23 left in the first half, and UNC didn’t lead again until midway through the second half.

“I think it really just boils down to us really hitting shots,” Bacot. “That’s what we’ve really got to do. I mean, we’re missing shots around the rim, 3-point shots. It’s hard to win a game like that.”

Carolina made only six of 18 layup attempts in the game.

RJ Davis hit some big shots with 17 points and was 3 of 5 from 3-point range. But the rest of the team was 2 of 18.

“I don’t think we made enough plays in the last few minutes,” Davis said. “We had good looks. The shots weren’t falling. We attacked the offensive glass. Sometimes the ball just didn’t bounce our way. But the effort was there.

“It’s definitely low right now just because of the type of game it was,” RJ Davis said. “It was senior night against our rival so it’s definitely something that we’re taking in right now. We just go into that ACC Tournament with a clear mindset, 0-0 for us record-wise. And, you know just play ball, play together.”

Bacot drew Dereck Lively’s third and fourth fouls in the first three minutes of the second half, but a Filipowski dunk pushed Duke’s lead back to six with 15:42 left. But with Filipowski on the bench, UNC tied it at 43 with 12:17 left with an RJ Davis 3-pointer after layups from Love and Bacot.

Three-pointers from Davis and Nance capped a 13–2 UNC run to give the Tar Heels a four-point lead, their biggest lead since the game’s opening minutes. However, after Lively tied it at 49 on a jumper with 7:23 left, the lead repeatedly changed.

Two Bacot free throws put UNC up one with 1:57 left. Duke retook the lead on a pair of Filipowski free throws before Roach’s drive gave the Blue Devils a three-point lead with 48 seconds left.

RJ Davis came up empty on a drive with 19.7 seconds left and Love missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with eight seconds left.

“We called a play that gave us an option for two looks to attack the basket and two looks on both sides to get a three,” Coach Davis said. “I felt like they defended it really well and we just didn’t get a clean look off of that shot.”

Pete Nance said of the final play: “It was a play we usually run. I think they did a good job of blowing it up a little bit with the hand-off between Caleb and RJ. But, that happens, so credit to them for playing good defense.”

Carolina tied it on a Love three-point play with 5:03 left in the first half, but a Filipowski three-point play 97 seconds later gave Duke its biggest first-half lead at six. UNC ended the first half with a 6–2 run, as Bacot’s inside bucket cut the Blue Devils’ halftime lead to 33–31.

“I wouldn’t say it was consistent with the first Duke game over Durham,” Coach Davis said. “I would say it’s probably more consistent with the close losses that we’ve suffered this year. Very frustrating. It really is. At the end of the day it comes down to making plays.”

Because of three Nance fouls and Puff Johnson turning his right ankle seven minutes into the game (he returned in the second half), Coach Davis made a season-high number of first-half substitutions.

In the first half, Tyler Nickel played four minutes after not getting into the previous two games and D’Marco Dunn played five after not playing at Florida State. Justin McKoy started because of senior night but also played later in the first half.

Filipowski finished with 22 points and 13 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season. Tyrese Proctor added 13 points.

NOTES — Carolina is 6–2 when holding opponents under 40% from the floor, both losses against Duke. The Blue Devils shot 38.7% at Duke and 37.9% on Saturday. … Carolina’s 57 points tied the season-low total it put up on Feb. 4 at Duke. … Bacot passed Michael Jordan for 14th in UNC scoring with 1,795 points. … Leaky Black, who collected nine points and eight rebounds, played in his 153rd career game, breaking Deon Thompson’s school record total of 152. He played in only four seasons. Nate Britt and Isaiah Hicks are next on the list with 151 games. … UNC wore the late 1960s, early 1970s throwback uniforms. … Duke finished off a sweep of the regular-season meetings for the first time since 2019–20 when the Blue Devils won 98–86 in overtime in Chapel Hill and 89–76 in Durham. … Carolina leads the series 143–117, including 65–39 at home and 20–18 in the Smith Center.

Duke 62, UNC 57

UNC lineup combinations

Score	Time	1	2	3	4	5	Segment score
Starters	20:00	Black	Watkins	McKoy	Nance	Bacot	0–0
0–0	19:14	Davis	Love	Black			5–5
5–5	15:10				Johnson		4–6
9–11	13:00				Nance		0–0
9–11	11:23		Dunn	Styles	Black		10–11
19–22	6:12		Love				1–1
20–23	5:25			Nickel			2–2
22–23	5:03	Love	Trimble			Washington	1–5
23–28	3:49	Davis	Love			Bacot	2–2
25–30	3:26					Nance	3–1
28–31	1:37			McKoy			1–0
29–31	0:57			Styles	McKoy		0–2
29–33	0:10				Nance	Bacot	2–0
31–33	0.8				McKoy	Nance	0–0
31–33	Half			Black	Nance	Bacot	7–10
38–43	13:40				Johnson		5–2
43–45	9:15					Nance	12–9
55–54	3:51				Nance	Bacot	2–6
57–60	0:19				Johnson		0–0
57–60	0:19				Nance		0–2
57–62	Final

ACC standings

Team	League	Overall	NET*
No. 3 Duke	0–0	11–1	2
California	0–0	11–1	63
No. 12 North Carolina	0–0	11–1	15
No. 23 Virginia	0–0	10–1	21
Virginia Tech	0–0	11–2	55
No. 11 Louisville	0–0	10–2	17
Miami	0–0	10–2	33
SMU	0–0	9–2	43
Stanford	0–0	9–2	97
Clemson	0–0	9–3	31
Notre Dame	0–0	9–3	64
Wake Forest	0–0	9–3	59
Georgia Tech	0–0	8–4	188
N.C. State	0–0	8–4	34
Syracuse	0–0	8–4	95
Florida State	0–0	6–6	149
Pittsburgh	0–0	6–6	152
Boston College	0–0	5–6	185

* — Through Thursday games
Friday’s results
Florida State 96, Mississippi Valley State 49
California 97, Morgan State 50
Saturday’s games
No. 12 North Carolina 71, Ohio State 70
No. 11 Louisville 94, Montana 54
Georgia Tech 95, Lafayette 81
Virginia Tech 82, Elon 81, OT
Syracuse 91, Northeastern 83
No. 23 Virginia 80, Maryland 72
No. 16 Texas Tech 82, No. 3 Duke 81
Stanford 77, Colorado 68
Sunday’s games
Penn State vs. Pittsburgh in Hershey, Pa., noon, Big Ten Network
Ole Miss vs. N.C. State in Greensboro, 1 p.m., ESPN
No. 13 Vanderbilt at Wake Forest, 1 p.m., The CW
Purdue Ft. Wayne at Notre Dame, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Central Arkansas at SMU, 2 p.m., ACCN Extra
Cincinnati vs. Clemson in Greenville, S.C., 3 p.m., ESPN
North Florida at Miami, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Columbia at California, 5 p.m., ACCN Extra
Monday’s games
American at Virginia, 6 p.m., ACCN Extra
Jacksonville at Florida State, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Stonehill at Syracuse, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
Fairleigh Dickinson at Boston College, 7 p.m., ACCN Extra
East Carolina at No. 12 North Carolina, 8 p.m., ACC Network

Date	Month/day	Time/score	Opponent/event (current ranking)	Location	Record
	October
28	Friday	W, 101–40	Johnson C. Smith	Home	Exhibition
	November
7	Monday	W, 69–56	UNCW	Home	1–0
11	Friday	W, 102–86	College of Charleston	Home	2–0
15	Tuesday	W, 72–66	Gardner-Webb	Home	3–0
20	Sunday	W, 80–64	James Madison	Home	4–0
			Phil Knight Invitational
24	Thursday	W, 89–81	First round: Portland	Portland	5–0
25	Friday	L, 70–65	Semifinals: Iowa State	Portland	5–1
27	Sunday	L, 103–101, 4 OTs	Consolation: No. 1 Alabama	Portland	5–2
			ACC/Big Ten Challenge
30	Wednesday	L, 77–65	No. 21 Indiana	Bloomington, Ind.	5–3
	December
4	Sunday	L, 80–72	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, Va.	5–4, 0–1 ACC
10	Saturday	W, 75–59	Georgia Tech	Home	6–4, 1–1 ACC
13	Tuesday	W, 100–67	The Citadel	Home	7–4
			*CBS Sports Classic*
17	Saturday	W, 89–84, OT	Ohio State	New York	8–4
			*Jumpman Invitational*
21	Wednesday	W, 80–76	Michigan	Charlotte	9–4
30	Friday	L, 76–74	Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	9–5, 1–2 ACC
	January
4	Wednesday	W, 88–79	Wake Forest	Home	10–5, 2–2 ACC
7	Saturday	W, 81–64	Notre Dame	Home	11–5, 3–2 ACC
10	Tuesday	L, 65–58	No. 14 Virginia	Charlottesville	11–6, 3–3 ACC
14	Saturday	W, 80–59	Louisville	Louisville, Ky.	12–6, 4–3 ACC
17	Tuesday	W, 72–64	Boston College	Home	13–6, 5–3 ACC
21	Saturday	W, 80–69	N.C. State	Home	14–6, 6–3 ACC
24	Tuesday	W, 72–68	Syracuse	Syracuse, N.Y.	15–6, 7–3 ACC
	February
1	Wednesday	L, 65–64	Pittsburgh	Home	15–7, 7–4 ACC
4	Saturday	L, 63–57	No. 12 Duke	Durham	15–8, 7–5 ACC
7	Tuesday	L, 92–85	Wake Forest	Winston-Salem	15–9, 7–6 ACC
11	Saturday	W, 91–71	Clemson	Home	16–9, 8–6 ACC
13	Monday	L, 80–72	No. 16 Miami	Home	16–10, 8–7 ACC
19	Sunday	L, 77–69	N.C. State	Raleigh	16–11, 8–8 ACC
22	Wednesday	W, 63–59	Notre Dame	South Bend, Ind.	17–11, 9–8 ACC
25	Saturday	W, 71–63	No. 14 Virginia	Home	18–11, 10–8 ACC
27	Monday	W, 77–66	Florida State	Tallahassee, Fla.	19–11, 11–8 ACC
	March
4	Saturday	L, 62–57	No. 12 Duke	Home	19–12, 11–9 ACC
			*ACC tournament*
8	Wednesday	W, 85–61	Boston College	Greensboro	20–12
9	Thursday	L, 68–59	No. 14 Virginia	Greensboro	20–13