By R.L. Bynum
DURHAM — No. 7 North Carolina was not in the mood to share, and graduate guard Cormac Ryan repeatedly shot down that possibility.
Ryan scored a career-high 31 points, hitting four big free throws in the final 16.7 seconds, as the Tar Heels clinched the ACC regular-season title outright with an 84–79 victory Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
UNC (25–6, 17–3), as the No. 1 seed in the ACC tournament at Washington’s Capital One Arena, opens at noon Thursday against the winner of Wednesday’s noon game between Virginia Tech and Florida State.
Ryan scored three of his six 3-pointers (which tied his season-high) in the first 3½ minutes as UNC quickly built a 15-point lead and led throughout on its way to a sixth consecutive win.
“I think it gave us great momentum,” Ryan said of the fast start. “I think it set the tone for how we felt and how we played today. Being able to come in here and throw the first punch is always a big thing because you want to try to take the crowd out of it. Make a statement early and we did that.”
Carolina finished off a season sweep of Duke (24–7, 15–5), which led for 16 seconds in the two games, all of those during the Tar Heels’ 93–84 win on Feb. 3 in Chapel Hill.
“I love playing in these environments,” said Ryan, whose previous season-high was 20 points against Kentucky. “I love being in front of the fire. I love it. And I know these guys love it, too. And that’s what makes us such a connected group: We just share in that, and we’d love to compete, and there’s nothing better than playing alongside your best friends.”
It wasn’t the first time Ryan has lit up the Blue Devils. He scored 28 points on Feb. 9, 2021, in Notre Dame’s 93–89 victory at Duke. His previous career-high was 29 for the Irish against Alabama in the 2022 NCAA tournament.
If Ryan can consistently make shots in his final games as a Tar Heel, UNC has the ability to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
“He was huge,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said after securing the 40th 25-win season in program history. “Obviously, his ability to make shots. But just as important is experience. Having a guy that’s been at the stage, even though it was from another school. Defensively, his presence, his poise, his leadership in the huddles, during halftime, before the game, just meant so much to this team and this program.”
Ryan scored the most points by a Tar Heel against Duke since Antawn Jamison scored 35 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 5, 1998. It was the most points by a UNC player at Duke since Hubert Davis scored 35 in a loss on March 8, 1992.
Carolina led by 15 points in the first half, but Duke seized the momentum right after halftime. Kyle Filipowski, after being held to four first-half points, scored eight of his team-high 23 points in an 11–3 Duke run to start the second half. A Roach 3-pointer cut Duke’s deficit to one four minutes into the second half.
“We got ticked off in the huddle; we were upset, all of us,” Coach Davis said after Roach’s 3-pointer. “We were just like, ‘let’s go.’ “
“We knew that they were going to make a run,” he said. “That’s talking about poise. We were saying, ‘Let’s turn this thing up. Let’s get some stops defensively.’ That allows us to get out in transition, where we’ve been consistently pretty good all season and then we were able to attack
the basket and then be able to take the lead.”
UNC responded with a 9–1 run, getting transition buckets from Jae’lyn Withers and Ryan 19 seconds apart to push the lead to nine, 52–43, with 14:35 left. A Ryan 3-pointer gave UNC a 10-point lead with 10 minutes left and, 87 seconds later, a Davis jumper made it 12.
“I think that was probably the most important part of the game was when they cut it to one and how we reacted and how we responded after that timeout,” Coach Davis said.
On a night when RJ Davis and Armando Bacot each scored nine points and were a combined 8 of 23 from the floor, Harrison Ingram was huge throughout with 14 points, 10 rebounds and two assists.
It was Carolina’s first win with neither Davis nor Bacot scoring in double figures since the head coaching debut for Hubert Davis on Nov. 9, 2021, against Loyola Maryland (Caleb Love had 22 points, Brady Manek 20, Dawson Garcia 12, Kerwin Walton 11, Bacot 8 and RJ Davis 6).
Ryan’s teammates, including Ingram, kiddingly say he is “sick in the head” because of his limitless intensity. Ryan was demonstrative after most of his buckets, pointing in the stands for some and sticking his tongue out after others.
“He’s an intense guy in general. Personally, I think he’s a psycho,” said Ingram, known to be quite intense himself, adding that everything off the court is a competition for Ryan. “He’s more of a serious, kill you intensity.”
Withers and Seth Trimble repeatedly made key plays on both ends of the court, making a huge difference. Both scored six points, with Withers adding eight rebounds and Trimble collecting four rebounds and two steals.
“Those guys are the two most athletic guys on our team, so when they come in, they raise the athleticism level of our team dramatically,” Coach Davis said. “It helps us defensively because we can do a number of things defensively in terms of switching.
“It helps our rebounding, helps us from an offensive standpoint, attacking the basket, getting second-chance opportunities,” Coach Davis said. “They both had really good practices leading up to this game. They played exactly the way that they practiced the last couple of days.”
Ryan swished three 3-pointers, and Ingram scored four points, as UNC went on a 17–4 run in the first 4½ minutes of the game.
“I think we were locked in,” Coach Davis said of his team’s hot start. “I thought we were tied in defensively. I thought obviously we were making shots, but I really liked that pace. The way that we transitioned from defense to offense was at an elite level and we were able to get exactly what we wanted in our primary break.”
Tyrese Proctor dogged RJ Davis defensively, and his first shot didn’t come until a drive six minutes into the game. Sean Stewart blocked it, but Davis fired in a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer six minutes later to put UNC up 15.
Duke trimmed its deficit to eight on a Proctor 3-pointer with 4:20 left in the first at the end of a 15–8 run. Roach cut it to seven on a driving layup with 1:03 left. But a Withers tap-in as time expired gave UNC a 40–31 halftime lead after the Heels led 12–2 in first-half bench points.
“Despite [Ryan] having 31 and making almost every shot, – it’s a one-possession game, it’s a two-possession game,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “But we just couldn’t sustain the stops you needed to get over that hump.”
After Ryan and Filipowski traded 3-pointers, Filipowski missed an inside shot under pressure from Bacot and Trimble got a steal on Duke’s next two possessions. Ryan then hit another 3 with 1:38 left to push the lead to nine.
TJ Power’s 3-pointer cut the lead to six, but Elliot Cadeau’s jumper at the end of the shot clock with 40 seconds left pushed it back to eight. Drives by Proctor and Power cut the lead to four with 23 seconds left.
Ryan hit both free throws on two trips in the last 16.7 seconds, and those sandwiched a Roach 3 with five seconds left to cut the lead to three.
“It was a disappointing loss for us,” Scheyer said. “It would be one thing if you felt like if you controlled the things that you can control, and I don’t think we quite did that. But you have to give them credit, the way they came out. That’s really the story of the whole game for me. They came out and got a 15-point lead. We outscore them the rest of the game.”
NOTES — Ryan is the seventh Tar Heel to score 30 or more at Duke, joining Lennie Rosenbluth (40 points on March 1, 1957), Doug Moe (32 on Feb. 6, 1959), Billy Cunningham (31 on Feb. 23, 1963), Michael Jordan (32 on March 5, 1983), Hubert Davis (35 on March 8, 1992) and Luke Maye (30 on Feb. 20, 2019). … UNC has won nine consecutive games against Duke in the regular-season finale when needing to win to either gain a share of the ACC regular-season title or to win it outright. … It’s the 22nd time Carolina has earned the title outright. … Saturday was the first time neither Davis nor Bacot scored in double figures since a 76–67 loss to Pittsburgh on Feb. 16, 2022. … UNC finished 8–2 in true road games this season (all ACC games) to top the best previous mark under Coach Davis of 7–2 in 2021–22). … Carolina went 8–2 on the road in the ACC. It is UNC’s most road wins since going 9–0 in 2018–19. … After losing both games to Duke last season, UNC swept the Blue Devils for the first time since 2020–21, and leads the all-time series 145–117. The Heels are 51–56 in Durham, including 49–47 in Cameron Indoor Stadium. … Deja Kelly was sitting a few rows behind the Duke bench. Like Harrison Ingram’s sister Lauren (a Duke volleyball player), Kelly wore a gray shirt.
No. 7 UNC 84, No. 9 Duke 79
ACC standings
| Team | League | Overall |
|---|---|---|
| No. 4 North Carolina | 17–3 | 25–6 |
| No. 11 Duke | 15–5 | 24–7 |
| Virginia | 13–7 | 22–9 |
| Pittsburgh | 12–8 | 21–10 |
| Clemson | 11–9 | 21–10 |
| Syracuse | 11–9 | 20–11 |
| Wake Forest | 11–9 | 19–12 |
| Virginia Tech | 10–10 | 18–13 |
| Florida State | 10–10 | 16–15 |
| N.C. State | 9–11 | 17–13 |
| Boston College | 8–12 | 17–14 |
| Georgia Tech | 7–12 | 14–17 |
| Notre Dame | 7–13 | 12–19 |
| Miami | 6–14 | 15–16 |
| Louisville | 3–17 | 8–22 |
Saturday’s games
No. 4 North Carolina 84, No. 11 Duke 79
Virginia Tech 82, Notre Dame 76
Florida State 83, Miami 75
Boston College 67, Louisville 61
Wake Forest 81, Clemson 76
Pittsburgh 81, N.C. State 73
Virginia 72, Georgia Tech 57
ACC tournament
March 12–16, Capitol One Arena, Washington
ACC tournament
Capital One Arena, Washington
Tuesday’s first-round results
No. 12 seed Notre Dame 84, No. 13 seed Georgia Tech 80
No. 10 seed N.C. State 94, No. 15 seed Louisville 85
No. 11 seed Boston College 81, No. 14 seed Miami 65
Wednesday’s second-round results
No. 9 seed Florida State 86, No. 8 seed Virginia Tech 76
No. 5 seed Wake Forest 72, Notre Dame 59
N.C. State 83, No. 7 seed Syracuse 65
Boston College 76, No. 6 seed Clemson 55
Thursday’s quarterfinals
No. 1 seed North Carolina 92, Florida State 67
No. 4 seed Pittsburgh 81, Wake Forest 69
N.C. State 74, No. 2 seed Duke 69
No. 3 seed Virginia 66, Boston College 60, OT
Friday’s semifinals
North Carolina 72, Pittsburgh 65
N.C. State 72, Virginia 65, OT
Saturday’s championship
N.C. State 84, North Carolina 76
UNC season statistics
| Date | Month/day | Score | Opponent/event (current ranks) | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 27 | Friday | W, 117–53 | vs. St. Augustine’s | Exhibition |
| November | ||||
| 6 | Monday | W, 86–70 | vs. Radford | 1–0 |
| 12 | Sunday | W, 90–68 | vs. Lehigh | 2–0 |
| 17 | Friday | W, 77–52 | vs. UC Riverside | 3–0 |
| Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas | ||||
| 22 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | Northern Iowa | 4–0 |
| 23 | Thursday | L, 83–81, OT | Villanova | 4–1 |
| 24 | Friday | W, 87–72 | Arkansas | 5–1 |
| ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | ||||
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 100–92 | vs. No. 6 Tennessee | 6–1 |
| December | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 78–70 | vs. Florida State | 7–1, 1–0 ACC |
| Jimmy V Classic in New York | ||||
| 5 | Tuesday | L, 87–67 | No. 1 Connecticut | 7–2 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 16 | Saturday | L, 87–83 | No. 12 Kentucky | 7–3 |
| Jumpman Invitational in Charlotte | ||||
| 20 | Wednesday | W, 81–69 | Oklahoma | 8–3 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 29 | Friday | W, 105–60 | vs. Charleston Southern | 9–3 |
| January | ||||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 70–57 | at Pittsburgh | 10–3, 2–0 ACC |
| 6 | Saturday | W, 65–55 | at Clemson | 11–3, 3–0 ACC |
| 10 | Wednesday | W, 67–54 | at N.C. State | 12–3, 4–0 ACC |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 103–67 | vs. Syracuse | 13–3, 5–0 ACC |
| 17 | Wednesday | W, 86–70 | vs. Louisville | 14–3, 6–0 ACC |
| 20 | Saturday | W, 76–66 | vs. Boston College | 15–3, 7–0 ACC |
| 22 | Monday | W, 85–64 | vs. Wake Forest | 16–3, 8–0 ACC |
| 27 | Saturday | W, 75–68 | at Florida State | 17–3, 9–0 ACC |
| 30 | Tuesday | L, 74–73 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 9–1 ACC |
| February | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | W, 93–84 | vs. No. 13 Duke | 18–4, 10–1 ACC |
| 6 | Tuesday | L, 80–76 | vs. Clemson | 18–5, 10–2 ACC |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 75–72 | at Miami | 19–5, 11–2 ACC |
| 13 | Tuesday | L, 86–79 | at Syracuse | 19–6, 11–3 ACC |
| 17 | Saturday | W, 96–81 | vs. Virginia Tech | 20–6, 12–3 ACC |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 54–44 | at Virginia | 21–6, 13–3 ACC |
| 26 | Monday | W, 75–71 | vs. Miami | 22–6, 14–3 ACC |
| March | ||||
| 2 | Saturday | W, 79–70 | vs. N.C. State | 23–6, 15–3 ACC |
| 5 | Tuesday | W, 84–51 | vs. Notre Dame | 24–6, 16–3 ACC |
| 9 | Saturday | W, 84–79 | at No. 13 Duke | 25–6, 17–3 ACC |
| ACC tournament Washington | ||||
| 14 | Thursday | W, 92–67 | Quarterfinals: Florida State | 26–6 |
| 15 | Friday | W, 72–65 | Semifinals: Pittsburgh | 27–6 |
| 16 | Saturday | L, 84–76 | Final: N.C. State | 27–7 |
| NCAA tournament | ||||
| 21 | Thursday | W, 90–62 | First round in Charlotte: Wagner | 28–7 |
| 23 | Saturday | W, 85–69 | Second round in Charlotte: Michigan State | 29–7 |
| 28 | Thursday | L, 89–87 | Sweet 16 in Los Angeles: No. 19 Alabama | 29–8 |
Photo via @UNC_Basketball
tarheeltribune.com 
