North Carolina stuns Duke on Seth Trimble's last-second shot

Shelby Swanson and Chip Alexander, The News & Observer on Feb 7, 2026

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina’s first lead over Duke on Saturday night was the only one that mattered.

Seth Trimble’s 3-pointer from the corner in front of UNC’s bench with 0.4 seconds left gave the 14th-ranked Tar Heels a 71-68 won over the No. 4 Blue Devils.

Trimble’s shot at the buzzer set off a wild celebration as the students and fans stormed the court. But the officials checked the replay and determined that 0.4 seconds remained. That caused UNC officials to plead with the fans to return to their seats.

After they did, Duke’s inbounds pass bounced off two players harmlessly and the buzzer sounded, officially ending the game. With that, UNC fans returned to the court for a second, lasting celebration.

Duke (21-2, 10-1 ACC) led by as many as 13 points in the first half and was up 68-62 after Caleb Foster drove the baseline to score with 2:51 to play.

But, as Duke failed to score again, Derrick Dixon sank a 3-pointer and Henri Veesaar did the same, tying the game with 1:40 to play.

Cam Boozer, who led Duke with 24 points, missed a contested layup with 1:10 left and another with 15 seconds to play, denying the Blue Devils two chances to regain the lead.

That gave UNC (19-4. 7-3 ACC) the chance to win, and Trimble delivered.

Caleb Wilson scored 23 points, while Trimble added 16 and Veesaar 13 for UNC.

Dame Sarr scored 13 points and Isaiah Evans scored 11 for Duke, which shot 37.5% after halftime to finish at 45.2% for the game.

Wilson shows out, carries team early

Wilson hasn't hidden the fact that this Duke matchup was personal for him, what with Duke going quiet on him during the recruiting process (he claimed in a recent interview with Andscape) and the potential to prove he can hold his own against Boozer, a consensus top-3 NBA draft pick.

Wilson led all scorers with 17 points in the first half, more than the rest of his teammates combined. He also led his team in rebounds with three, which is saying a lot considering the Tar Heels’ overall struggles on the boards (more on that below).

Duke decimates Tar Heels on boards

With just under five minutes remaining in the opening half, Veesaar leapt into the air and pulled down his first rebound of the game. It was UNC’s second offensive rebound at that point.

Veesaar and Wilson combined for five rebounds in a first half that saw the Blue Devils outrebound UNC, 22-11. For reference, North Carolina entered Saturday averaging 40 rebounds per game.

The Blue Devils finished with a 38-26 rebounding edge.

Matching up with the star freshmen

The biggest guessing game before Saturday’s game centered on the defensive matchups for Boozer and Wilson.

Would the coaches allow the two biggest freshman stars to guard each other? Would Duke use Sarr or start Maliq Brown and put one of their quickest forwards on Wilson?

The answer: Boozer and Wilson going to head. At least to start.

Neither did a lot on the offensive end early in the game. But Wilson got his game in motion after the Devils moved Brown, their best overall defender, on to Wilson.

Wilson hit a jumper over Brown and he was off, feeling it, scoring 17 points in the opening to pull the Heels back into it. The Devils also used Sarr in the opening half but Wilson made five of his seven shots from the field — his teammates were a collective 4 of 20 — and all six free throws.

Boozer took on the defensive assignment for chunks of the second half and was more effective. Maybe it was the time they once spent together in AAU ball, but Boozer had a better feel for what Wilson wanted to do with the ball.

In the end, they both led their teams in scoring, but Trimble made the most important shot of the game.