College Basketball

UNC Basketball: The Top UNC Tar Heel Dunks against Duke

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 5:53 p.m. ET

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Fansided, Horran Cameron/FanSided via Keeping It Heel

Mar 3, 2012; Durham, NC, USA; Duke Blue Devils fans also known as Cameron Crazies taunt North Carolina Tar Heels forward Harrison Barnes (40) as he takes the ball out against the Blue Devils during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-US PRESSWIRE

It’s Rivalry Week in North Carolina as UNC travels to Durham to take on Duke

This week, the biggest rivalry in sports will again take center stage. On Thursday, the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels will face the No. 18 Duke Blue Devils. Regardless of rankings and win-loss records, all bets are off when these two teams face each other.

Duke’s head coach, Mike Krzyzewski just came back to the sidelines from surgery. North Carolina sits atop the ACC standings with a 9-2 record and both teams have hopes of playing for a national championship in a couple of months.

In Thursday’s game, expect a lot of points, possibly a buzzer-beater and most of all, some highlight reel dunks.

In this article, we focus on the best dunks by North Carolina Tar Heels that have taken place in this rivalry over the years. Let this list be a primer for Rivalry Week and the game against Duke on Thursday.

Duke at UNC, 2011

We get three dunks for the price of one in this video.

This game was one of many memorable games between Duke and UNC. The fourth-ranked Blue Devils came to Chapel Hill and lost to the No. 13 Tar Heels, 81-67. This victory made North Carolina the ACC regular season champions.

One week later, Duke defeated Carolina 75-58 in the 2011 ACC Tournament Championship. In that game, Dexter Strickland posterized Kyle Singler, but he was called for a foul. After watching the dunk, you be the judge.

UNC at Duke, 2008

No. 1 North Carolina went to Durham to face the sixth-ranked Blue Devils. The Tar Heels prevailed in this one, 76-68.

This game belonged to UNC’s big four: Tyler Hansbrough, Tywon Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green. Green stole the show with his infamous posterizing dunk on Greg Paulus.

In addition to that, Green finished the game with a ridiculous stat line: 18 points (made eight of his 14 field goals, made two of his four 2-4 three-pointers), eight rebounds, seven blocks, two steals and one assist.

UNC at Duke, 1995

This dunk occurred during the infamous double-overtime game between UNC and Duke. The Tar Heels won the game, 102-100. During the game, North Carolina went on a dunking frenzy.

Despite how great Jerry Stackhouse’s dunk is, there were seven other dunks in this game that are noteworthy as well. Rasheed Wallace was the subject of many of these dunks.

Stackhouse and Wallace led the Tar Heels to a Final Four in 1995. A few months later, both players were top-five picks in the 1995 NBA Draft after playing two years of college basketball.

UNC at Duke, 1994

This was the second game between Duke and UNC during the 1993-94 season.

The defending national champion North Carolina Tar Heels swept Duke that season; 89-78 in the first game and 87-77 in the second. Freshman forward/center Rasheed Wallace had 14 points.

In this clip, Wallace receives an alley-oop from UNC point guard Derrick Phelps on a fast break.

Duke at UNC, 1998

All of these games are good. However, the best dunk from this game was a missed dunk when UNC point guard Ed Cota lobbed a pass off the backboard for Vince Carter.

Despite Carter missing the dunk, it was still a beautiful thing. It is arguably the best missed dunk ever.

UNC at Duke, 2012

As a freshman, P.J. Hairston had a decent performance against the Blue Devils in Durham. He posterized Austin Rivers in the video shown above. He had another put back dunk earlier in the same game.

UNC defeated Duke 88-70 and won the ACC regular season championship with the victory.

UNC at Duke, 2012

In the same game as the previous slide, James Michael McAdoo introduced himself to Krzyzkewskiville in a posterizing way.

McAdoo’s one-handed put-back dunk on Miles Plumlee was phenomenal. His dunk gave the Tar Heels a 20-5 lead in this 2012 matchup.

UNC at Duke, 2015

J.P. Tokoto had an array of impressive dunks in this game. Tokoto was known for his high-flying, highlight reel dunks during his three seasons in Chapel Hill.

After the 2015 season, Tokoto gave up his final season of eligibility and went pro.

Duke at UNC, 2015

Although Duke defeated North Carolina 84-77 in this matchup, Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige put on a show.

Paige led the Tar Heels with 23 points, five assists and three steals. Johnson finished the game with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

Duke at UNC, 2014

Desmond Hubert scored two points in this game – this dunk. Hubert provided a spark off the bench for the Tar Heels with his defense and hustle on the boards. He grabbed five rebounds and blocked one shot.

North Carolina won the first matchup between these two teams during the 2013-14 season, 74-66. Leslie McDonald led the Tar Heels with 21 points and Marcus Paige scored 13 points in the second half to secure the win.

UNC at Duke, 2015

The Blue Devils swept the Tar Heels during the 2014-15 season en route to a national championship.

This clip took place during the first matchup between the two bitter rivals. Isaiah Hicks and J.P. Tokoto executed this one-handed alley-oop with relative ease.

UNC lost to Duke 92-90 in overtime.

UNC at Duke, 2016

The 2015-16 season was the year of Brice Johnson. He was a first-team All-American and first-team All-ACC selection. In addition to that, he led the Tar Heels to the National Championship where they lost to the Villanova Wildcats, 77-74.

When UNC faced Duke in Durham, North Carolina last March, Johnson had one of his best games. He finished the game with 18 points and 21 rebounds. The Tar Heels won 76-72 and won their 30th ACC regular-season championship with the victory.

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