DURHAM, N.C. _ No. 18 Duke needed nearly all of Grayson Allen's 25 points to subdue No. 8 North Carolina on Thursday night.
Plays from a host of other players allowed Duke to survive important stretches of the second half when fouls put Allen on the bench, and that helped lead the Blue Devils to an 86-78 ACC basketball win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Allen made seven 3-pointers, including a key one with 1:16 left that put Duke up 80-75. But he fouled out 14 seconds later and the Blue Devils (19-5, 7-4 ACC) needed more heroes.
UNC (21-5, 9-3) trailed 80-77 when Duke's Jayson Tatum, who scored all of his 19 points in the second half, missed a 3-pointer. But Duke's Matt Jones dived on the floor to grab the bouncing ball for a key offensive rebound.
Freshman Frank Jackson was fouled and hit a free throw with 26.9 seconds left giving Duke its five-point lead again at 82-77.
Tatum added two more free throws as Duke protected the lead.
Luke Kennard added 20 points for Duke.
Justin Jackson scored 21 points for UNC, while Joel Berry added 18.
Duke survived a four-minute stretch of the second half with Allen on the bench due to fouls. He picked up his fourth foul with 8:35 left and left the game.
The score was tied at 66 at the time.
When he returned with 4:49 to play, Duke had built a one-point lead because Kennard had scored a couple of key baskets in the interim. Kennard's bank shot with 6:30 left gave Duke a 72-71 lead.
Kennard drove the lane looking to add to Duke's lead but instead of shooting, he passed the ball back out to Tatum for a wide-open 3-pointer with 4:22 left that gave Duke a 75-71 lead.
Allen's two-handed slam dunk when he got loose in a half-court set with 3:22 left gave Duke a 77-71 lead.
Justin Jackson ended UNC's stretch of 4:35 without a field goal by drilling a 3-pointer with 2:57 left to cut Duke's lead in half.
Allen missed a 3-pointer, and after Duke grabbed the rebound, Berry stole the ball from Allen to start a fast break. Berry drew a foul and hit one free throw leaving Duke up 77-75 with 2:20 left.
After trailing by eight points early in the second half, UNC fought back by scoring on nine consecutive possessions. The Tar Heels made eight shots in a row during one stretch, getting the ball inside and effectively driving to the basket, to surge back in front.
When Berry hit a 3-pointer from the right corner with 12:14 to play, the Tar Heels led 63-59.
The Tar Heels led 64-59 when Allen hit a 3-pointer to end Duke's four-minute field-goal drought. Tatum drove for a tough layup with 10:20 left and the score was tied again at 64.
Duke led by just a point at halftime, but its offense clicked in the early minutes of the second half. The Blue Devils made four of their first six shots and ripped off eight points in a row at one point to build a 51-43 lead.
With the score tied at 43, Kennard started the rally with a 3-pointer. After Kennedy Meeks missed a dunk for UNC, Tatum drew a foul in transition and hit two free throws.
Matt Jones blocked Justin Jackson's shot in the lane, Allen nailed a 3-pointer giving Duke its 51-43 lead with 16:54 to play.
After a slow start shooting from the field, Duke heated up over the final 12 minutes of the half and led 40-39 at intermission.
UNC hit 8 of its first 13 shots to build a 17-12 lead. At that point, Duke had hit just 4 of 10 shots.
But the Blue Devils hit four consecutive shots during a 10-2 run that gave them a 24-21 lead with nine minutes left in the half.
From that point until halftime, there were nine lead changes and two more ties as the rivals went back and forth.
Duke built a 28-24 lead only to see UNC score six in a row to lead 30-28.
A pair of Jackson baskets for UNC within 37 seconds of each other put the Tar Heels up 38-35 with 1:08 left in the half.
Duke had the final possession, and Allen closed the half sinking a contested 3-pointer with 3.8 seconds left giving Duke its one-point halftime lead.
After that cold start, Duke made 12 of its final 20 shots of the half to finish at 53.3 percent for the first 20 minutes.
UNC shot an 56.3 percent in the first half as Jackson scored 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
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