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North Carolina coach Hubert Davis doused in locker room celebration after big Duke win

FaceProfileby:Thomas Goldkamp•02/03/24
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(Jaylynn Nash | USA TODAY Sports)

No. 3 North Carolina pulled out a thrilling 93-84 win over No. 7 Duke on Saturday, with the annual rivalry game once again renewed in front of a raucous crowd at the Dean E. Smith Center.

Tempers flared, shots flew and the Tar Heels won the first meeting of the season.

After the game, North Carolina coach Hubert Davis got to celebrate with his team in the locker room. As he celebrated, he was doused with water from several angles as the team whooped and hollered. You can check out the celebration below.

North Carolina led for most of the game after taking an early lead. The Tar Heels simply seemed to play with a higher degree of intensity than the Blue Devils for most of the contest.

Big man Armando Bacot helped control the tempo, winning his matchup against Duke big man Kyle Filipowski more often than not.

Bacot was electric, scoring 25 points and pulling down 10 rebounds to record a double-double in the frontcourt. He set the tone in terms of physicality and hustle in the contest.

Meanwhile, wing Harrison Ingram was hot from beyond the arc, draining five 3-pointers as he poured in 21 points in the contest. He also had 13 rebounds, recording a second double-double for the Tar Heels.

Two others finished in double-figures for North Carolina: guard RJ Davis with 17 points and guard Seth Trimble with 10 points.

Davis was involved in two controversial dust-ups with Filipowski that drew added scrutiny from the refs in front of the roaring crowd. The first occurred with a few minutes to play when officials blew a play dead and Davis continued his dribble toward the paint. Filipowski had his hands up and his left arm grazed Davis’ forehead.

Officials reviewed it and determined it was unintentional contact, deciding not to rule it a dead ball technical.

Then, in the final minute of the game, Filipowski and Davis both went up for a rebound on the Duke offensive end. They got tangled up and it wasn’t immediately clear which player had fouled which.

Fans were irate when officials went to the monitor and ruled it was a flagrant foul on Davis for hooking.

But it mattered not, as Duke was too far behind at that point to mount a serious comeback attempt in the final minute.

The win helped move UNC to the top of the ACC standings with a 10-1 conference record. Virginia is next closest in the league standings at 8-3.