North Carolina took its first lead at 62-60 when Gerald Henderson was whistled for a goaltending on Reyshawn Terry’s fast-break layup with 5:15 left, then pushed the lead to 64-60 when Wright knocked in a tough shot over Josh McRoberts on the next possession.

Duke managed to close the gap to 64-63 shot in the lane from Henderson, then looked poised to go ahead when DeMarcus Nelson got to the foul line after a turnover. But Nelson missed both shots and Hansbrough knocked down a straightaway jumper on the next play to make it 66-63 with 3:15 left.

That started a six-point run from the Tar Heels, who took their largest lead at 70-63 on Lawson’s driving basket while drawing the foul for a three-point play with 1:46 left. Scheyer managed a three-point play to make it 70-66 with 1:17 left, but Lawson followed with a driving basket against three defenders that allowed the Tar Heels to seal it at the line.

It was another late-game fade for the Blue Devils, who failed to score on the final play of a 68-66 overtime loss at Virginia and a 68-67 home loss to Florida State. Krzyzewski responded by shaking up his starting lineup against the Tar Heels, pulling tri-captains McRoberts and Nelson — who had started every game this season — in favor of freshmen Henderson and Brian Zoubek.

Scheyer got the Blue Devils off and running, scoring 14 first-half points — including a stickback of a Henderson miss that gave Duke its largest lead at 35-25 at the 4-minute mark.

“Those guys were wounded,” Wright said. “We knew those guys were going to come out firing and they did.”

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But the Tar Heels eventually erased the deficit, getting a 3-pointer from Wes Miller followed by a short jumper from Hansbrough to tie it at 52 with 9:40 left.

Now the Blue Devils are left with their first in-season three-game losing skid since the 1995-96 season. Things won’t get much easier; their next games are at Maryland and Boston College.

“We don’t have time to sit around and feel sorry for ourselves,” Scheyer said.

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