WATCH: North Carolina Tar Heels share emotional hug after victory over Duke

There were hugs all around the North Carolina Tar Heels locker room following their upset victory over hated in-state rival the Blue Devils. And what would be Duke men’s basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final regular season home game, the Blue Devils fell to the Tar Heels 94-81.

In this storybook ending of this chapter of the tobacco road rivalry, Tar Heels first year head coach Hubert Davis enjoyed an impressive road victory. And stole away a little joy from the celebration of Krzyzewski’s career. After the game, Davis and his players shared this heartfelt embrace.

Hubert Davis celebrating with his players postgame is everything 🙌 @UNC_Basketball pic.twitter.com/CmIX3xpOVp

— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 6, 2022

North Carolina was able to pull out the victory thanks to an impressive performance from their starting lineup. Four of their five starters scored at least 20 points in the game. And every starter played at least 37 minutes. In fact, only one bench player for the Tar Heels registered in the scoring column and played more than five minutes in the game, Puff Johnson.

North Carolina pulls off upset of Duke

After the game, the Tar Heels showed just how much the victory meant to them and let their rivals know it. While excited and eager to rub in their win, the North Carolina players quickly made their way to the postgame handshake line and congratulated Mike Krzyzewski on his legendary career before continuing their celebration in the locker room.

“We knew coming into the game that there would be a lot of noise, a lot of people coming in,” said North Carolina’s Armando Bacot after the game. “We knew coming in we were either going to win the fight or win the game — and it didn’t have to come to a fight, so we won the game.

“I just want to give my respects to Coach K too for a great career. It was just great to win this game on their floor. This is a signature win and I’m just so happy.”

Coach K welcomed to court

As he prepared to coach his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium with Duke, Coach K took the court to an incredible scene before tip-off. Coach K walked onto the court through a tunnel of his former players, each paying their respects to their coach as fans cheered. Afterwards, everybody on the court posed for a photo surrounding the legendary coach while wearing warm-up tops with the letter “K” in the Duke logo’s style.

Very few things are capable of overshadowing the basketball rivalry between the Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels, as they continue to be one of the fiercest matchups across all sports. Saturday’s farewell ceremony to the legendary Krzyzewski is poised to make the game itself look like a formality while everybody in attendance is ready to show their love and respect to Coach K.

“Just let it happen and see what the hell happens,” Krzyzewski said of the game.