No. 2 Tar Heels rally past No. 6 Blue Devils

? North Carolina trailed by nine points with three minutes left, the kind of margin that might have been insurmountable for the Tar Heels in recent years.

“Last year, we would have probably given up,” center Sean May said.

For this year’s team, it wasn’t an option.

Dynamic freshman Marvin Williams converted a three-point play with 17 seconds left to cap an 11-0 game-closing run and give the second-ranked Tar Heels a 75-73 victory over No. 6 Duke on Sunday.

North Carolina (26-3, 14-2), playing without the ill Rashad McCants for the fourth straight game, won its first ACC regular-season championship since 1993, the same year of its most recent national title.

“It’s been a long journey,” said senior Jackie Manuel, one of three players left from an 8-20 team three years ago. “To be honest, I didn’t really know if we could do it. You really appreciate the highs when you’ve been at the bottom and seen the worst.”

May had 26 points and 24 rebounds to record his eighth straight double-double for North Carolina, and his final rebound was the most important. After J.J. Redick missed a long three-pointer that would have won it for the Blue Devils, teammate Daniel Ewing had a final chance from just inside the arc.

But his shot was short, and May leaped high for the carom. He cradled the ball in his hand while the clock ran out, then hurled it into the stands. Hundreds of the 22,125 fans — the largest crowd ever at the Dean E. Smith Center — rushed the court to celebrate the Tar Heels’ third victory over their Tobacco Road rival in the past 16 meetings.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that, and it’s something I’ll never forget for the rest of my life,” May said. “For me, it feels good, because I’ve never beaten them. Finally, to get an opportunity, it feels good.”

Shelden Williams had 25 points and six blocks for Duke (22-5, 11-5), which played without guard Sean Dockery for the third straight game. Redick scored all 17 of his points in the first half.

“We have to close the chapter to this book, the regular season, and our guys were in every ballgame,” Duke coach Mike Kryzewski said. “I’m proud of them.”

The Blue Devils broke a tie at 64 with a 9-0 run capped by a three by Lee Melchionni with 3:07 left for a 73-64 lead.

“I love the competitiveness of our team when we were down nine inside three minutes,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “I told them that if they were to make a total commitment to every possession on the defensive end and every possession on the offensive end, we would still have a chance still at the end.”