There’s no game tougher than a rivalry. A stadium packed to the brim with fans jeering and cheering, a long shared history between the two teams, and an immense amount of pressure. For the longest time, both UNC and Duke have shared an intense rivalry. Both programs had Hall-of-Famer coaches in Dean Smith, Roy Williams, and Coach K, and they had a number of legendary games to speak of. Not to mention, UNC eliminated Duke in Coach K’s final game, ending fans’ hopes of one last chip. But that isn’t the only one making the list in recent memory.

Playing in rivalry games can make or break your career. If you win, you’re a hero, and if you lose? Well, that’s better left unexplored. Often times, new stars emerge during rivalries. A last second shot in front of a tough crowd, a game-winning block, or an incredible steal go a long way in defining a player’s legacy. One Blue Devil freshman had that moment nearly a decade ago, and it has left UNC alum Tyler Zeller still reminiscing about the game.

On The Adam Gold Show, Zeller talked about his experience in dealing with pressure and the Duke-UNC rivalry. Gold asked the former Tar Heels big man how far ahead of a matchup he would start feeling the pressure. “It depended on the season,” Zeller replied.

After all, the seven-footer didn’t have an ‘orthodox’ college career. Injuries, minute restrictions, and rehab occupied a lot of his time as a Tar Heel. However, there is no one better to talk about this rivalry than Zeller. He went toe-to-toe with Austin Rivers and the Blue Devils quite a few times through his 4 years with UNC.

“You feel that momentum building as you’re progressing towards that,” he said, admitting that the pressure kept increasing as they got closer to games that would define their season ahead. Like the one in his junior year where they’d fight for the ACC regular season title. But one in particular couldn’t have prepared the Tar Heels for the upset that came the very next year.

“But then senior year, we got beat on a last-second shot at home. We hung on to that one basically since we lost that game all the way through to the final [second]. So it builds for a long time,” he added.

It was the first meeting against Duke that year. Just the previous season, they had been defeated twice by the Blue Devils in the three times they met. The last one had taken away the ACC championship title from the Tar Heels. 2012, hence, seemed like a revenge mission for the team at Chapel Hill. They were on a better momentum too. But Austin Rivers just did not let that happen; at some fault of Zeller too.

Revisiting a classic, Austin Rivers’ sensational comeback in 2012 Duke-UNC matchup

The game was a nail-biter through and through. To set the scene properly, you need to know that North Carolina was the fifth in national rankings (20-3), while Duke was ninth. Another thing that’s absolutely crucial to know is that the Tar Heels were on a 31 game winning streak at home.

Coach K worked his magic in that game, and Roy Williams had no answer for him. The Blue Devils were down 10 with only two minutes to go. Everyone thought it was an easy win for the Tar Heels, but Duke never gave up hope. Tyler Thornton and Seth Curry hit a couple of quick threes to bring the deficit down to 4.

However, the game really turned around in the last 14 seconds. Tyler Zeller accidentally tipped in a shot for Duke, and suddenly the lead was down to one! Unfortunately for the seven-footer, it just wasn’t his day. Blue Devils guard Austin Rivers pulled a deep three at the very end of the game clock over him, and the rest was history.

Duke had won 85-84, snapped Tar Heels’ winning streak, and Rivers’? He was just beginning. In his first rivalry game the freshman had landed career-high 29 points. UNC got its revenge 6 games later, when they faced again. But Feb 8th was one to remember.

With the last ACC regular season game coming up on Saturday, it will be interesting to see who takes the win. Will North Carolina continue their historical dominance over a packed Duke team? Can they create an upset to remember in this rivalry? Only time will tell.