NEW YORK — North Carolina was up 16 with 5 1/2 minutes left, all set to cruise to a victory that would snap a six-game Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament losing streak against Duke and put the Tar Heels in the championship for a record 35th time.

Then things got weird - and college basketball’s greatest rivalry produced another memorable finish.

Luke Maye scored 17 points, including North Carolina’s last field goal with 5:33 remaining, and the 12th-ranked Tar Heels held off a rally by No. 5 Duke for a 74-69 victory Friday night in the ACC semifinals.

“I have nothing to say about the last five minutes,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said, able to joke because ultimately it turned out OK for the Tar Heels. “(Assistant) Coach (Steve) Robinson coached that part of the game. You guys be sure and tell Coach Rob I said that. It was unbelievable.”

The sixth-seeded Tar Heels (25-9) will face top-seeded and top-ranked Virginia Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in a rematch of the 2016 ACC championship, won by North Carolina.

Maye hit a jumper to give North Carolina what seemed like a safe 72-56 lead. But the Tar Heels went cold and got sloppy and second-seeded Duke went on a 13-0 run, drawing within three on Gray Trent Jr.’s 3 with 50 seconds left.

The Tar Heels turned the ball over on consecutive possessions to give Duke (26-7) opportunities to tie.

“I think toward the end, we were just trying not to make mistakes and we ended up making mistakes instead of just continuing to be aggressive,” North Carolina senior Joel Berry II said.

Duke couldn’t convert. Grayson Allen was called for an offensive foul, drawn by Kenny Williams, driving to the basket, and then Allen missed a 3, trying to draw contact on Maye.

Theo Pinson, who dropped the ball out of bounds with 11 seconds left, made two free throws with 3.2 seconds left to seal it.

“I made a big-time turnover that I needed to make up for, and I’m going to be honest, I was like, you’re making these two free throws,” Pinson said. “Like you just almost blew the game for your team, so you have to make them.”

The Tar Heels beat their heated Tobacco Road rivals for the first time in the conference tournament since the 1998 championship game. They also evened the series in Brooklyn at 1-1. Duke beat the Tar Heels in the semifinals at Barclays last season.

Pinson had seven of North Carolina’s 24 assists on 28 field goals as the Tar Heels cut up Duke’s zone most of the night.

Marvin Bagley III followed up his 33-point, 17-rebound game against Notre Dame Thursday with 19 points and 13 rebounds for Duke. Fellow freshman Trent added 20 points and Wendell Carter Jr., another frosh, had 14 points and nine rebounds. — AP