![North Carolina defeated Duke 90-83 in Chapel Hill on Saturday night. [Image via Blasting News image library/inquisitr.com]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/3/5/660x290/b_502x220x82/north-carolina-defeated-duke-90-83-in-chapel-hill-on-saturday-night-image-via-blasting-news-image-library-inquisitr-com_1187227.jpg "North Carolina defeated Duke 90-83 in Chapel Hill on Saturday night. [Image via Blasting News image library/inquisitr.com]")
On Saturday night, the rivalry continued as the Duke Blue Devils and North Carolina Tar Heels battled in Chapel Hill. UNC came away with a 90-83 victory in the battle of ACC foes, behind 21 points from their star forward Isaiah Hicks. The victory helped Carolina continue to hold onto a No. 1 seed with the ACC Tournament looming for the two teams. Here's a look at what went down in the latest game featuring these two college basketball rivals ahead of March Madness 2017.
A close battle throughout
The Duke Blue Devils gave a valiant effort in this road game against a No.
1 seed for the currently-projected NCAA tournament brackets but couldn't quite overcome their foes. Luke Kennard came to ball and finished with 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting, along with five rebounds. Frank Jackson scored 15 and hauled in six rebounds while Jayson Tatum finished with 13 and Amile Jefferson scored 12. Grayson Allen came off the bench to score 14 points in the Blue Devils' loss. Duke trailed by just two at the half but never found a way to get ahead in the second half of the game.
For the winning side, Joel Berry II came off the bench to score 28 points in the win on 9-14 shooting including going a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point range. The team was also aided by starter Isaiah Hicks also had a 7-for-9 shooting performance from the floor for 21 points.
Hicks also snagged nine boards in the effort to help his team out-rebound their opposition 35-31. UNC also shot 50.7 percent from the floor and dished out a total of 19 assists compared to just eight for their opponents.
ACC Tournament next
The win moved North Carolina to 14-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings, which puts them at the top.
Florida State, Louisville, and Notre Dame each are 12-6 sitting just below them, while Duke is 11-7 and tied with the Virginia Hokies.
The two teams will now prepare for the upcoming 2017 ACC Tournament. North Carolina is expected to be the top seed overall and receive a double-bye, while Duke will likely have four games in order to win it all. Selection Sunday is also on the way next Sunday, so both teams will look for a strong showing in the upcoming NCAA tournament action.
