‘I said green’: Seth Trimble’s game-winning shot lifts No. 14 UNC men’s basketball over No. 4 Duke

With seven seconds left and the game tied, Derek Dixon went around a Caleb Wilson screen and drove.

He saw the defense collapse, then surveyed his options.

And one was open.

Seth Trimble in the right corner.

Jarin Stevenson didn’t realize where Dixon’s pass was going. He thought it was headed over Wilson’s head.

Then Stevenson watched theball soar toward Trimble.

And Trimble let it fly.

As soon as it swished, Stevenson and a sea of Carolina Blue chased Trimble around. Even Trimble’s dad found him in the masses.

“When I saw Seth catch it and him shoot it, I saw the ball going straight into the net,” Stevenson, the junior forward, said.

The senior guard’s game-winning corner 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds on the clock lifted No. 14 North Carolina over No. 4 Duke, 71-68, Saturday evening at the Dean E. Smith Center. Trimble gave UNC its first lead of the game — but the only one it needed.

Long after the final buzzer sounded, among the media surrounding Trimble was Kyan Evans.

The junior guard peered over the myriad of heads to ask Trimble what everyone was wondering.

“What were you feeling?”

And Trimble knew exactly what popped into his head.

“I said green,” Trimble said.

Evans and his teammates agreed.

“We said the same thing,” they shouted.

As soon as the shot left Trimble’s hand, there was no doubt from anyone that it was going in.

There was no doubt before the play, either, as Trimble’s teammates rallied behind him. He was going to get the ball. 

“Even after I had that turnover at the end of the game, they were saying, ‘We know who you are, we believe in you, go win it. The ball comes to you.'” Trimble said.

First-year guard Derek Dixon made the call on the pass to Trimble. The play, ‘Philly 25,’ was drawn up for the bigs to roll and pop. The goal was to get to the basket — and options for shooters would be surveyed from there.

Dixon faced  Duke’s Cameron Boozer on the switch, and Duke scrambled to keep up.

“I just tried to make the right read and set the fly to him. I trusted him to knock it down,” Dixon said.

It is the first game-winning shot for UNC with under a second remaining since Luke Maye’s jumper against Kentucky in 2017 to send North Carolina to the Final Four.

And Trimble remembered exactly where he was then, too.

“I was on my couch watching that. I got up jumping up and down,” Trimble said.

To have a moment like this in the rivalry would  be the only thing on Trimble’s mind when he went to sleep Saturday night, he said. It’s a dream come true. 

He now stands alongside legends like Maye, Marvin Williams and Caleb Love in the the history books. 

But he never thought it would have been him.

He didn’t become a full-time starter until this year. And to begin this season, he broke  his arm, forcing him to the sidelines for nine games.

“Being able to go through adversity, being able to struggle and being able to overcome it builds you much more than anything else can,” Trimble said.

Trimble returned just in time for ACC play. And as the lone Tar Heel who played in all three losses to Duke last season, he had an extra fire fueling him to win.

And head coach Hubert Davis thought the moment couldn’t have been more perfect.

“Having a kid as accomplished as Seth to stay at one school for four years, that shot was made by the perfect person at the right time,” Davis said.

After Evans and his other teammates beckoned Trimble to join them on Franklin Street, UNC basketball alumnus Theo Pinson weaved through the crowd of media and gave Trimble a hug.

“So proud of you, dog,” he said.

Trimble beamed. Current players and alumni all celebrated him, because as Davis’ first four-year player, Trimble’s loyalty transcends today’s landscape of college basketball.

Even with all the options for shooters that the play provided, Trimble was the only one who had been there before. And had stayed.

It was perfect.

@alexdjones_

@dthsports | sports@dailytarheel.com