Trimble's Three-Pointer Beats Duke, 71-68

Saturday, February 7

Chapel Hill

6:30 p.m.

North Carolina

19-4,7-3ACC

Duke

21-2,10-1ACC

Duke

North Carolina

Seth Trimble

Photo by: Jack Morton

February 7, 2026 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Seth Trimble hit a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining to give No. 14 North Carolina a 71-68, come-from-behind win over No. 4 Duke on Saturday night in the Smith Center. Trimble's three from the corner gave the Tar Heels their only lead of the day after trailing by as many 13 points in the first half and 11 in the second.

It was the latest three-pointer by a Tar Heel to win a game since Luke Maye's buzzer-beater with 0.3 seconds to go to beat Kentucky in the 2017 NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, and it was the latest game-winning shot ever by the Tar Heels against Duke.

"It's crazy, it's crazy," Trimble said. "You dream stuff like this as a kid. You dream of stuff like this even as a grown man before you go to sleep. Man, I never would have thought that would have been me."

The Tar Heels outscored Duke, 9-0, in the final 2:25. Carolina shot 60.7 percent in the second half while holding Duke to 37.5 percent after halftime.

UNC won its fifth consecutive game and improved to 19-4 this season, 7-3 in the ACC, snapping a three-game losing skid to Duke. The Blue Devils fell to 21-2, 10-1 and saw their 10-game winning streak come to an end.

Henri Veesaar hit a three-pointer with 1:40 left to even the score at 68-all, the game's first tie since the score was 2-2 in the opening 30 seconds. The teams traded scoreless possessions before Trimble grabbed the rebound of a Cameron Boozer miss with 15 seconds to go. After Carolina called timeout, Derek Dixon drove toward the hoop, drew three defenders and dished the ball to Trimble for his triple from the corner in front of the Tar Heel bench.

Caleb Wilson scored 17 first-half points and finished with 23, posting his fifth consecutive 20-point game and his 17th this season. He hit 8 of 12 shots.

"It just shows that we're hungry," Wilson said of the comeback. "Everybody overlooked us. Nobody thought we were gonna win this game. We're hungry."

Trimble scored 16 with three steals, and Dixon had eight points and four assists, drilling a three-pointer with 2:25 left to cut the Duke lead to 68-65.

Veesaar scored 13 points, all in the second half, and grabbed 11 rebounds to post his ACC-leading 13th double-double. His three-pointer with 1:23 left tied the score at 68-all. He also defended Boozer on Duke's possession with the game tied in the final seconds, leading to Trimble's game-winner.

"Carolina, they played a great game to win, and that's a heartbreaking loss for our team," Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said. "Congrats to Carolina for just clawing and fighting back and making one more play than we did down the stretch."

Boozer led Duke with 24 points and 11 boards, but the Tar Heel defense limited him to 10 of 21 shooting. Dame Sarr had 13 and Isaiah Evans scored 11 for the Blue Devils.

Duke out-rebounded the Tar Heels, 38-26, and dominated points in the paint (36-22) and second-chance points (17-4).

The Devils jumped out early and led by as many as 13 points in the first half before Wilson led a comeback by scoring 17 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Tar Heels clawed back within a point at 23-22 with 7:27 left before Duke closed the half on an 18-7 run.

Carolina played much better in the second half, outscoring Duke, 42-27, after halftime.

"It's great ammunition for me to let [the team] know what it looks like, what perseverance looks like, what toughness looks like, what staying and sticking together looks like, what being a team looks like," Tar Heel head coach Hubert Davis said. "They're great examples of all that for these guys to cling to, lean on to allow us to reach our full potential as a team."

How It Happened
First Half
• Duke hit six of its first eight shots and led, 14-5, after 5:06 of action, forcing an early Tar Heel timeout.
• Four minutes later, Duke had connected on 9 of its first 11 shots and led, 20-9. Fourteen of the Blue Devils' first 20 points came in the paint on layups and off offensive rebounds.
• Wilson led a 9-0 Tar Heel run, scoring 11 of the team's first 20 points to pull within two at 22-20 with 7:47 left before intermission.
• Duke used an 11-2 run in the final four minutes to go back up by double figures, 41-29, at halftime.
• The Blue Devils shot 53.3 percent from the floor in the half while Carolina was 33.3 percent. Tar Heels other than Wilson shot 4 for 20 in the first 20 minutes.
• Duke outscored UNC in the paint, 18-4, and 13-4 on second-chance opportunities. Veesaar was scoreless with two rebounds in the half.

Second Half
• Carolina heated up after halftime, hitting 10 of its first 14 shots to pull within single digits.
• The Tar Heels then went over 3:30 without a point to allow Duke to rebuild its advantage.
• UNC cut the Blue Devil lead to four at 62-58 with under six minutes to play before a turnover at midcourt gave Cameron Boozer a layup.
• Veesaar played better in the second half, scoring all 13 of his points. His layup cut the Duke lead to 64-60 with 4:36 to go.
• The Tar Heels got three-pointers from Dixon, Veesaar and Trimble in the final 2:25 to clinch the win.

Notes
• Former Tar Heel players in the Smith Center included Tyler Hansbrough, Antawn Jamison, Tyler Zeller, Raymond Felton, Theo Pinson, Justin Jackson, Mike Copeland, Bobby Frasor, Brian Reese, Donald Williams, Phil Ford, Marcus Ginyard, Terrence Newby, Reyshawn Terry, Kenny Williams, Michael Brooker, Kevin Salvadori and Garrison Brooks.

Up Next
Carolina will visit Miami on Tuesday February 10 in Coral Gables, Fla. The game will begin at 7 p.m. on ESPN.