Good, Bad and Ugly Report: Duke on senior night

Stop me if you’ve heard this before … UNC has a second-half lead against a quality opponent with a chance to boost its postseason resume, yet finds a way to let the game get away with another close but disappointing loss. Or maybe you’ve heard this one before … Carolina is engaged in a rock fight against Duke, in a nail-biting, close game in the last four minutes, only to go ice-cold and unable to score more than two points down the stretch and the Blue Devils scratch out a win.

UNC’s pursuit of an ACC title begins Wednesday against either BC or Louisville

After a 62–57 loss to Duke in the regular-season finale, North Carolina likely has to win the ACC Tournament next weekend at the Greensboro Coliseum to make the NCAA tournament field. That pursuit will start at 7 p.m. on Wednesday (ESPN2) in the second round as the No. 7 seed against the winner of Tuesday’s 4:30 first-round game between No. 10-seed Boston College (15–16) and No. 15-seed Louisville (2–18).

Videos: Armando Bacot and RJ Davis talk about UNC’s loss to Duke

Here what Armando Bacot and RJ Davis had to say after Carolina’s loss to Duke.

Bovair impressive in his third start of season as No. 13 UNC wins fourth in row

CHAPEL HILL — Junior right-hander Connor Bovair fits in quite nicely as No. 12 Carolina’s No. 2 starter after his first two college seasons didn’t always go smoothly. He followed two solid outings to start the season with an impressive showing Saturday to get his first win of the season in the Tar Heels’ 7–5 win Saturday over Stony Brook before a sun-splashed crowd at Boshamer Stadium.

No. 11 UNC men’s lacrosse rallies to take a late lead, but falls; transfer Goldsmith scores 4

CHAPEL HILL — No. 11 Carolina battled from behind all afternoon and showed resilience, but only led for 55 seconds late in the game before quickly giving up two huge goals. Denver scored twice in the last 2:29 to take a gritty 9–8 men’s lacrosse victory over the Tar Heels on a sunny day at Dorrance Field, despite four goals from graduate transfer Sean Goldsmith.

Tar Heels in NBA: Johnson celebrates birthday with 20 points as Nets rally to upset Celtics; Barnes, Anthony and Bullock all have big games in wins

Cameron Johnson and Harrison Barnes each scored 20 points, and Cole Anthony hit 16 as all three earned victories Friday night after Reggie Bullock scored 15 in a Thursday win. Johnson scored 17 points in the second half as Brooklyn rallied from a 28-point deficit for a surprising 115–105 road win over Boston on his 27th birthday.

Playing Duke a third time? UNC women say they are can’t wait for the challenge

GREENSBORO — Days after No. 18 North Carolina finished off a regular-season sweep of Duke, the two will go at it again. Carolina junior Alyssa Ustby wouldn’t want it any other way, as the rivals will face off at 6 p.m. Friday in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum.

UNC rides hot-shooting first half, ousts Clemson to earn third meeting with Duke

GREENSBORO — Carolina shot itself into a third battle with Duke behind one of the Tar Heels’ best perimeter shooting halves of the season. Related: It’s good for No. 18 UNC to have the inside-outside combination of Eva Hodgson and Alyssa Ustby back.

Carolina likely to play during evening session Wednesday at ACC men’s tournament

Carolina could be seeded 6th, 7th or 8th next week at the ACC men’s basketball tournament. That won’t get settled until Saturday, but it looks likely that the Tar Heels will play during the evening session of the second round at the Greensboro Coliseum on Wednesday.