Wendell Moore Jr. caps frenzied Duke rally to beat North Carolina in OT
Duke (20-3, 10-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) rallied from 13 down in the final 4½ minutes of regulation on Jones' contested shot after he ran down a long rebound on his own intentionally missed free throw. Then the Blue Devils had to rally from five down in the final 20.9 seconds after the Tar Heels had seemingly steadied themselves after looking staggered following Jones' jumper. Jones hit a free throw to tie it with 6.6 seconds left in OT only to miss the second, but Moore tapped the rebound beyond the 3-point arc to be recovered by teammate Jordan Goldwire. Jones got the ball and drove to launch an off-balance shot off one foot and missed everything, but Moore flew in behind Christian Keeling to snatch the ball near the left side of the rim and put it right back in. Anthony had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (10-13, 3-9), who were unexpectedly in control of this one much of the way -- only to be undone by missed free throws and an inability to come up with one or two more clutch plays to close it out.
Duke: Jones offered a reminder of how good he can be in big moments. After big man Vernon Cary Jr. fouled out, the Blue Devils had to go small with Jones running the point with confident and aggressive precision. "He was at another level tonight," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, adding: "He was a stud tonight, man."
UNC: For once, the Tar Heels' season-long struggles seemed in the past, and they had found probably their best mix of Anthony's ball-dominant style with getting the ball consistently in the post even while playing without No. 3 scorer brandon Robinson due to an ankle injury. And yet, the Tar Heels just as in their first-ever home loss to Clemson last month faltered at the most critical moments. Most glaringly, they made just 21 of 38 free throws, including 5 of 12 to end regulation.
