DURHAM – UNC basketball won’t be sharing the ACC regular-season championship this season.

Behind a big-time performance from Cormac Ryan, the seventh-ranked Tar Heels earned a 84-79 win against No. 9 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium and earned their first outright title since the 2016-17 season.

With the victory against the ninth-ranked Blue Devils (24-7, 15-5 ACC), the seventh-ranked Tar Heels (25-6, 17-3) also secured the top seed in next week’s ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C. The 17 ACC wins ties the all-time record in the league.

UNC will play at noon in Thursday’s quarterfinals against the No. 8 or No. 9 seed. Duke, the No. 2 seed, will play at 7 p.m. Thursday. Kyle Filipowski (23 points) and Jared McCain (19 points) paced the Blue Devils.

Here’s what stood out in UNC’s wire-to-wire win at Duke.

Cormac Ryan as UNC basketball’s scoring leader

Cormac Ryan, who had 28 points in a 2021 win at Duke with Notre Dame, set the tone in his debut at Cameron Indoor Stadium with the Tar Heels. Ryan knocked down a trio of 3-pointers in a two-minute span to help UNC jump out to a 15-point lead. He finished with 31 points, knocking down six threes and 9 of 10 free throws. Ryan had 20 points in the second half.

ALL-TIME TAR HEEL: How UNC basketball’s Armando Bacot grew after freshman year

TRIPPING?: Did Duke basketball’s Kyle Filipowski trip UNC’s Harrison Ingram?

DUKE'S FOCUS: Duke basketball's Jon Scheyer shifts focus, puts Blue Devils within reach of ACC title

Jae’Lyn Withers, Seth Trimble were UNC’s X-factors

The Tar Heels had a 14-5 advantage in bench points, led by Jae’Lyn Withers and Seth Trimble. Like Ryan, Withers was a spark in his debut as a Tar Heel at Duke. He had six points and eight rebounds, helping UNC dominate the boards. With Elliot Cadeau in foul trouble, Trimble had six points, four rebounds and two steals. If Withers and Trimble can bring that effort in the postseason, it makes the Heels even more dangerous.

Harrison Ingram thrives against Duke

With RJ Davis being hounded by multiple Duke defenders, Harrison Ingram had quite an encore against the Blue Devils. After scoring 21 points with 13 rebounds in the first meeting, he logged another double-double performance in Durham with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cormac Ryan, Harrison Ingram help UNC basketball beat Duke, win ACC