Coaches, players, analysts, they all say the same thing: when Duke and Carolina step on the court, throw out the records because you never know what's going to happen.
Perhaps that's how it came to be that in February 1995 two teams on opposite ends of the basketball pyramid waged a two-and-a-half-hour, double-overtime war that left everyone-even the players-in a steam-filled Cameron Indoor Stadium craving more.
When the second-ranked Tar Heels clashed with a Mike Krzyzewski-less Duke squad that had lost its coach to back surgery in January and was still searching for its first conference win after seven straight ACC defeats, it truly was David versus Goliath. And although Goliath eventually emerged victorious, a 30-foot bomb from David's slingshot showed that in this rivalry at least, even giants are mortal.
Sophomore Jeff Capel's desperation, buzzer-beating heave from halfcourt somehow found the bottom of the net and capped a furious comeback that forced UNC into a second extra period.
Capel's miracle shot came on the heels of a three-point play by freshman Trajan Langdon with five seconds left that narrowed the Tar Heel lead to 95-92. When Serge Zwikker bricked both free throws moments later, Cherokee Parks grabbed the rebound, dished it to Capel and joined the 9,314 rabid fans who celebrated wildly in disbelief as Duke erased an eight-point deficit in the final 25 seconds of overtime.
Carolina would regroup after the emotional first overtime and escape with a 102-100 victory when Steve Wojciechowski's failed attempt at another buzzer-beating, game-tying shot from eight feet out missed the mark. While the Heels left the game as victors, it was college basketball's most storied rivalry that collected the biggest win of all.
"I've never seen anything like that," Dean Smith said afterwards. "That's the best team we've played [this year] based on that game."
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