DURHAM, NC – North Carolina didn’t just beat Duke 84-79 on Saturday to sweep the season series between the rivals, win the ACC regular-season championship outright and clinch the No. 1 seed in next week’s conference tournament.

The Tar Heels made a statement.

One loud enough to be heard over the din of 9,314 screaming, water-throwing Cameron Crazies.
It was a statement about toughness, maturity and the ability to do whatever it takes to win, no matter how hostile the environment or how high the stakes.

Coach Hubert Davis’ 7th-ranked team came out firing. It established its dominance early, rolling out to a 15-point lead by the midway point in the 1st half before answering every challenge along the way.

In the process, UNC did much more than quiet a festive Senior Night crowd at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It stated its case loud and clear to anyone willing to listen that it’s going to be a tough out once the NCAA Tournament begins.

No matter who it plays or where it’s seeded.

“It was definitely a statement game,” 5th-year center Armando Bacot said afterward. “But we don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. This was 1 of our smaller goals. But we want to win the (ACC) Tournament, too. That’s something we haven’t done in a long time. And we know what we really want to do. So we’re just knocking off goals.”

First on that list was making sure not to have to share the regular season title with the arch-rival Blue Devils.

It was a tough ask, considering the venue.

Despite looking more like a high school gym than a college basketball Mecca when empty, Cameron is an intimidating place when packed to the rafters, with its aptly named student section stationed close enough to reach out and touch the participants on the floor.

But these Tar Heels knew what to expect. Bacot and soon-to-be ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis were both key contributors 2 seasons ago to the team that spoiled Mike Krzyzewski’s final game on the court named in his honor.

That experience showed during the opening 7 minutes when it was the confident, veteran Tar Heels who flipped the script on the home team and did a little intimidating of their own with a 21-8 haymaker to start the game.

“We’ve been in situations here where it’s rough and tough. But all week, Coach (Hubert Davis) has just been preaching to us to throw the 1st punch,” Bacot said. “We’ve got to be the more physical team. That was our approach, getting out to a lead like that.”

Duke was eventually able to get off the canvas and back on its feet. But it was never able to fully recover. The Tar Heels led for 39:49 of the 40 minutes and never trailed. Every time Duke made a run, UNC had an answer.

The most definitive of those answers came after Jeremy Roach hit a 3-pointer to pull the Blue Devils within 43-42 just minutes into the 2nd half and had an open look to put his team ahead for the 1st time.

That’s when the Tar Heels’ championship mettle shined brightest.

“I’ve always communicated to them ‘how are you going to react and how are you going to respond?” Hubert Davis said. “Those are the only things you have control over, whether it’s something good or something bad that happens.”

UNC stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws before an official timeout, during which Davis said his players were ‘ticked off’ in the huddle.

“We were like, ‘let’s go,’” he said. “Let’s turn this thing up.”

And they did, running off 9 of the next 10 points to reestablish control.

Normally when the Tar Heels take off, it’s either RJ Davis or Bacot leading the way. Not this time.

Davis had a hard time finding operating room while being hounded by a face-guarding Duke defense. He finished with only 9 points on 4-of-12 shooting. Bacot was also limited to 9 points on 4-of-11 shooting.

That left the bulk of the heavy lifting to Ryan.

The graduate transfer who scored 28 points against the Blue Devils to lead Notre Dame to a win in 2021, did that 1 better this time. He made 6 3-pointers on the way to a career-high 31 points, adding insult to injury by gesturing to the crowd after several late daggers.

Ryan’s performance, along with key contributions from Harrison Ingram, Seth Trimble and Jae’Lyn Withers, showed that these Tar Heels have the depth and versatility to win in a number of different ways.

On nights in which their stars aren’t at their best.

More important, it showed that they have the same kind of edginess that another grad transfer, Brady Manek, gave them during their run to the 2022 Final 4. It’s an element last year’s team sorely lacked.

Bacot described his teammates’ contribution on Saturday as “psychotic.” Ryan simply called it business as usual.

“We knew what it meant. We knew what was at stake,” he said. “To walk out of this building with a W is always nice.”

To make a statement in the process makes it even more meaningful.