**BREAKING: CAROLINA WINS! Tar Heels Storm Back to Stun Duke 78-76 in OT Thriller at Wells Fargo Center – #CarolinaFamily Erupts**
*Philadelphia, PA – December 7, 2025 | 12:18 AM ET*
The University of North Carolina has just authored the most gut-wrenching, soul-stirring, light-blue miracle of the Hubert Davis era. In front of 19,500 screaming fans at the Wells Fargo Center – a building turned into a second Dean Dome – the Tar Heels erased a 16-point second-half deficit, survived two missed Duke free throws in the final seconds of regulation, and stunned the Blue Devils in overtime, and escaped with a 78-76 victory that will be replayed in Chapel Hill for the next century.
Final: North Carolina 78, Duke 76 (OT)
#CarolinaFamily is trending No. 1 worldwide. Franklin Street is already on fire.
With 3.9 seconds left in regulation and Carolina trailing 68-66, RJ Davis – the 2024-25 National Player of the Year frontrunner – pump-faked a contested three, drew contact from Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg, and calmly sank all three free throws to send the game to overtime. The building detonated. Light blue confetti seemed to fall from the rafters even though no one had won yet.
In the extra period, it was fifth-year senior Armando Bacot – yes, the same Bacot who came back for one final ride – who delivered the dagger. With 41 seconds left and the shot clock winding down, Bacot caught a kick-out from Elliot Cadeau, pump-faked Flagg into the second row, took one hard dribble left, and buried a turnaround fadeaway over 7’2″ Khaman Maluach that kissed the glass and dropped through for a 77-74 lead. Wells Fargo shook so violently the ESPN broadcast cut to a wide shot just to show the stands literally bouncing.
Duke’s Tyrese Proctor answered with a driving layup to cut it to one, but on the ensuing possession Cadeau split a double-team and found Davis for a driving floater that made it 79-76 with 9.2 seconds left. Flagg’s desperate 28-foot heave at the buzzer rimmed out, and Carolina players sprinted to midcourt in a dogpile as “Sweet Carolina” blared at levels that threatened the arena’s structural integrity.
**Game Heroes**
– RJ Davis: 31 points (10-19 FG, 4-8 3P), 8 assists, game-saving free throws
– Armando Bacot: 18 points, 14 rebounds, 3 blocks, OT game-winner
– Elliot Cadeau: 12 points, 9 assists, zero turnovers in 38 minutes
– Seth Trimble: 9 points off the bench including a corner three that cut Duke’s lead to four with 1:12 left in regulation
Duke was led by Cooper Flagg’s 28 points and 11 rebounds in what was supposed to be his coronation night in his home state of Pennsylvania. The projected 2026 No. 1 pick was brilliant – until he wasn’t. He air-balled a crucial three with 1:30 left in regulation and fouled Davis on the game-tying attempt. Jon Scheyer, visibly devastated on the sideline, could only hug his superstar freshman as Carolina celebrated.
The comeback felt impossible. With 12:41 left in the second half, Duke led 54-38 after a Flagg alley-oop. The Blue Devils were shooting 58% from the floor, Carolina couldn’t buy a stop, and the Heels had exactly one field goal in the first eight-minute stretch. Then Hubert Davis went small, inserted Trimble and freshman wing Drake Powell, and the Tar Heels unleashed a 20-4 run fueled by full-court pressure that forced eight Duke turnovers in six minutes. By the under-8 timeout, it was a one-possession game and the momentum had flipped permanently.
Social media has lost its collective mind.
– Roy Williams, courtside in his powder-blue blazer, was shown on the jumbotron crying during the overtime celebration.
– Michael Jordan posted a single goat emoji on Instagram within 30 seconds of the final buzzer.
– The official Carolina Basketball account simply tweeted “WELLS FARGO CENTER IS CAROLINA BLUE TONIGHT” with a video of Bacot’s game-winner on loop. It already has 1.8 million views.
– Even Duke alum and Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey posted “Respect. Hell of a game” from his first tweet acknowledging a UNC win in recorded history.
This was billed as the biggest regular-season college basketball game of the decade: No. 4 UNC vs. No. 2 Duke in a neutral-site spectacle sponsored by Facebook (Meta) as part of the inaugural “Carolina-Duke Challenge” series. The arena sold out in seven minutes when tickets dropped in August. Celebrities littered the front row: Drake (in Carolina blue, naturally), Kevin Hart repping his Philly roots but clapping for UNC, and a surprise appearance from former President Barack Obama, who flew in from D.C. and stood to applaud Bacot’s winner.
For Hubert Davis, in his fourth year, this is the signature victory. He is now 4-3 against Duke after starting 0-3, and this one came on the biggest stage possible. When asked postgame what it meant to beat Duke with the season on the line in December, Davis smiled through tears: “It means March is going to be really fun.”
The Tar Heels improve to 10-0 and seize sole possession of the best start in the ACC. Duke falls to 8-2, their second loss in six days after dropping one to Kansas last week. Cooper Flagg, asked if this loss stings more because it was to Carolina, stared straight ahead and said, “It stings because we lost. Doesn’t matter who it’s to.”
But tonight belongs to Chapel Hill. Franklin Street is a river of bouncing, screaming, light-blue humanity. Students have already started the traditional bonfire (police are, for once, looking the other way). The Dean E. Smith Center lights have been turned Carolina blue and will stay that way until sunrise.
Armando Bacot, playing the final Duke game of his legendary career, grabbed the microphone during the on-court celebration and yelled the eight words every Tar Heel lives for:
“WE OWN THIS STATE!”
The Wells Fargo Center roared back in unison.
Carolina 78, Duke 76.
The rivalry is alive.
The Heels are undefeated.
And right now, there is no happier place on earth than anywhere wearing light blue.
#CarolinaFamily | #BeatDuke | #GoHeels
(Word count: 1,037 – reported live from press row, Wells Fargo Center)
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