“Do you like apples?” Matt Damon taunted a rival for a young woman’s affection in the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting. When the other guy nodded quizzically, Damon held up of piece of paper with seven digits and boasted, “Well, I got her number. How do you like them apples?”

Carolina got them apples at Duke Saturday night, and it was all about the digits, staggering numbers that overcame the persistent Blue Devils and won the ACC championship for the Tar Heels for the first time in four years, UNC’s seventh in the Roy Williams era and 30th in history (if you’re counting, Duke has 3 and 19).

Numbers like 64 rebounds to 29 for Duke, 27 offensive boards to 8 for the smaller Blue Devils. Numbers like 42 of their 76 points coming in the paint, widening their nation-leading percentage in that category. Numbers like 18 points and 21 rebounds from Brice Johnson, giving UNC’s senior center 47 and 40 in two games so far against Duke.

So far, because the Blue Bloods are likely to meet again Friday night in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. The Tar Heels took their first top seed in the tourney since 2012 and, with it, secured a high enough seed in the NCAA Tournament to open play in Raleigh.

Carolina needed every one of those rebounds and points from the entire team to hold off Duke, which stayed in the game despite foul trouble for freshman star Brandon Ingram by hitting 13 three-pointers. The last one cut the deficit back to two points and came on fellow freshman Luke Kennard’s fourth three-ball of the night – again from the corner and again over UNC’s inexplicable 1-3-1 defense that gives you open three-point shots!

The Tar Heels made only 4 of their 23 treys, which means they gave up a 27-point differential on three-pointers and still won despite shooting only 28 percent in the second half and committing eight more turnovers than Duke. They made it up by dropping in 20 of their 23 free throws compared to only nine for the Blue Devils and making 10 more two-point field goals. Duke made a lower percentage (36) on short shots than on long balls (38 percent).

“That’s our game, the three-pointer,” Mike Krzyzewski said, “because we have no inside game.”

Many of Carolina’s 27 offensive rebounds came from playing volleyball above the rim when the ball would not go through the net. The frustration that yielded set up another disappointing finish, like the one in Chapel Hill on February 17, but this time the Heels were more gritty than pretty and broke a three-game losing streak at Cameron. Only fifth-year junior Stillman White (who skipped two seasons for a Mormon Mission) was around for that 2012 victory at Duke.

Because one never knows what will happen after the ball goes up, the pre-game ritual at Cameron when UNC is in the house remains the most electrifying few minutes in sports. As the teams come back onto the court, the building erupts with most of the 9,100 fans singing and clapping to Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing and Cascade’s Every Time We Touch. (Jump Around at the Dean Dome is pretty cool, but it doesn’t last this long and it’s mostly students jumping around.)

Ingram, the NBA-bound freshman who was playing his “senior game,” got two quick fouls and sat out the last 11 minutes of the half while Duke kept it close by draining 6 of 15 three-pointers as Carolina built a ridiculous 30-10 rebounding edge, 10-1 on the O-glass. Duke hung in there until Ingram returned, and when the Blue Devils eventually tied the score at 49, Cameron went crazy; lesser opponents would have been toast.

“There’s one team that can come in here on Senior Night and win,” Roy Williams said. “I reminded them before the game that we’ve done it before and we can do it again.”

Like the last game, UNC seemed to dominate everywhere but on the scoreboard. The Heels opened on a 6-0 run and had the lead up to 11 in the first half, but Duke cut it back to 29-27 on freshman Derryck Thornton’s only three-pointer of the game. Ahead by eight at the break, they were abysmal offensively to start the second half, short-arming easy shots around the basket to go 0-11 before Joel Berry made one of his two (2-9) three balls. But after Duke tied the score on Grayson Allen’s fourth of six three-pointers, the Heels showed a resolve they had not in five previous road losses and the home gift to the Blue Devils 17 days ago.

Duke never led, and the margin grew back to 9 on Berry’s second three-pointer and his driving layup around Justin Jackson’s baseline dunk off a nifty assist from Kennedy Meeks, whose unexpected double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds made up for the foul-plagued performance of Isaiah Hicks. Remember the days of dreadful foul shooting? Eight straight free throws by Theo Pinson, Berry and the last four by Marcus Paige sealed the win after Duke took to fouling.

Johnson and Paige were in tears when the horn sounded, recalling the game they gave away on the same floor 13 months earlier and awash in their first ACC championship of any kind. If Paige, who went 3-10 and 1-8, can ever recover his shot, other titles are not out of reach.