After spending nearly eight months in the Triangle, I can now clearly feel the bad blood between Duke and the University of North Carolina. I have made several friends at UNC, so when Duke played at the Dean Smith Center earlier this month on February 8, my Tar Heel friends had the nerve to talk trash to me before the game, giving me even more reason to REALLY root for Duke.

I didn’t have tickets to the game, so a bunch of MMSers got together in an apartment and watched the game together. I was excited for the start of the game because my alma mater, Syracuse, had just defeated its archrival Georgetown in overtime. I was hoping Duke would do the same to UNC.

The game was close in the first half, but then UNC pulled away in the second. The Tar Heels were up by double digits for most of the half. However, during the last three minutes, Duke went on a historic run, capping an improbable comeback with a buzzer-beating three-pointer by rookie sensation Austin Rivers.

Video of the game-winning shot.

Because I was so into the game, I ran out of the apartment yelling at the top of my lungs. I don’t remember being that happy since I got in to Duke last May.

To celebrate the victory, my roommate and I went to the Quad, where Duke students assembled to party. Usually, after Duke beats UNC, students burn benches. However, the student association did not acquire a permit in time, so we then rushed to Cameron, where we waited for the team bus to return from Chapel Hill.

After about an hour wait, the team came. Players threw their shoes into the crowd. There was nothing but happiness and excitement. Everyone was talking about taking the party downtown. But as a dedicated Duke graduate student in the MMS program, I had to return home and study for my marketing midterm, which I had in the morning.