Duke rallies to beat UNC, clinch ACC regular-season title - ESPN

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Duke played without Cooper Flagg for nearly 10 minutes in the first half, and as the Blue Devils' «ran out of gas,» according to coach Jon Scheyer, they fumbled away a 15-point lead and went into the break up just one on North Carolina.

Scheyer's message when the team hit the locker room: «This is great.»

For a team that had won five of its past six games by at least 30 points entering Saturday night's regular-season finale against the rival Tar Heels, Scheyer was more than happy to see Duke deal with some adversity — something the Blue Devils did down the stretch, thundering to an 82-69 win over UNC to secure the No. 1 seed in next week's ACC tournament.

«We never want to be the hunted,» Scheyer said. «Sometimes, when you talk too much about what a team is trying to do, you become the hunted. We want to be the hunters. We have to continue to do that. From here on out, it's end-of-season time if you lose. We have to be ready to go.»

That adversity showed up with three early fouls on Flagg, including a charge that sent him to the bench for the final 3:18 of the half. With their centerpiece sidelined, the Blue Devils struggled to get stops, and UNC chipped away at a massive deficit to pull to within a point.

The second half opened with more scoring from the Tar Heels, who went up by seven with 15:44 left, but that's when the adversity found a proper adversary in an emotional Flagg.

Flagg played the second half with three fouls and still dominated on defense, racking up four blocks to key the Blue Devils' comeback. He finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists. After several key plays down the stretch, including a monster dunk, he flexed and played to the hostile crowd.

«It's just about