DURHAM, N.C. -- Questions about North Carolina's ability to close out key games were answered in the final minutes Saturday night against No. 17 Duke.

The eighth-ranked Tar Heels made clutch plays and seemed particularly pleased about that after a 76-72 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"It shows we're a lot tougher than people think we are," senior guard Marcus Paige said.

Forward Brice Johnson scored 18 points and pulled in 21 rebounds as North Carolina overcame miserable second-half shooting, claiming sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

"I can't really put it in words," Paige said. "We knew what was at stake and we took care of it."

The Tar Heels led most of the way, snapping Duke's four-game winning streak in the series and avenging a one-point home loss from last month.

North Carolina (25-6, 14-4 ACC) will carry the No. 1 seed into next week's ACC Tournament in Washington. The Tar Heels are regular-season champions for the first time since 2012.

Forward Justin Jackson added 13 points and forward Kennedy Meeks posted 12 points for the Tar Heels, who shot 28.2 percent from the field in the second half.

Guard Grayson Allen's 29 points and guard Luke Kennard's 20 points kept Duke in it, but North Carolina's relentless offensive rebounding made a huge difference.

Duke (22-9, 11-7) will be the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament, beginning play Wednesday, a day earlier than the Tar Heels.

The disappointing result came with glimmers of hope for Duke, coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

"North Carolina is really, really good," Krzyzewski said. "And we've become a good team. We've had enough to win and that has shown, but we didn't have enough tonight. Overall, we managed to hang in there. In the second half, our kids just battled like crazy."

The Tar Heels stretched their lead to 64-57 on guard Joel Berry's 3-pointer. Berry's layup with 3:20 left made it 68-59, taking the ball the length of the court after grabbing a defensive rebound.

"I just grabbed the rebound and they were getting back," said Berry, who scored seven of his last 11 points in the final five minutes. "That was it right there."

Guard Theo Pinson's two free throws at the 25-second mark gave North Carolina a 70-64 edge, but Allen answered with a 3-pointer. Berry sank two free throws with 17.1 seconds to go.

Kennard's corner 3-pointer closed the gap to 72-70. Paige made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 8.8 seconds left and two more with 1.5 seconds to go.

"When he hit that last free throw, it felt great," Johnson said.

Duke freshman forward Brandon Ingram, who scored all 10 of his points in the second half, played only nine first-half minutes because of two fouls. He picked up his third 51 seconds into the second half and had his fourth with 10:07 remaining.

North Carolina missed its first 11 shots from the field in the second half. Allen's 3 made it 49-49, and the Tar Heels used a timeout at the 11:43 mark.

"We stayed poised when they tied the game up," Berry said.

North Carolina had eclipsed its season high for rebounds (52 vs. Davidson) with more than seven minutes remaining. The Tar Heels finished with 64 rebounds compared to Duke's 29.

"Their rebounding was fantastic," Krzyzewski said. "They more than doubled our rebounds and still we had a chance to win."

North Carolina led 40-32 at halftime or double the margin from its lead at the break in the first meeting of the season.

The Tar Heels cleaned up in front of the basket, where Duke didn't have an answer at the defensive end. Johnson nearly had a double-double in the first half with 10 points and nine rebounds.

North Carolina's 30-10 first-half rebounding advantage helped the Tar Heels to 10 second-chance points.

Duke closed an 11-point deficit to two points and gained possession before the Tar Heels stretched out the lead.

Earlier, North Carolina feasted in the lane and then Jackson hit a 3-pointer from the wing for a 17-7 lead less than eight minutes into the game.

NOTES: Duke announced before the game that senior F Amile Jefferson won?t play again this season and will seek a medical redshirt to make him eligible for the 2016-17 season. He played nine games this season, but has been out since December. ? Duke senior C Marshall Plumlee was honored in Senior Night activities, becoming the third of three Plumlee brothers in recent seasons to play in a final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. ... Duke G Grayson Allen has scored in double figures in 20 consecutive games. ... North Carolina G Marcus Paige became the program's first three-time Academic All-American in a selection announced earlier in the week by the College Sports Information Directors of America. ... North Carolina has at least 13 ACC wins for the seventh time in coach Roy Williams' 13 seasons.