RALEIGH, N.C. — It came down to the final minute, the last 41 seconds to be precise, as it so often does. They didn’t invent the ACC Network to replay the first 39 minutes of this one for posterity, but North Carolina and N.C. State yet again contrived to concoct a finish that left the building too stunned to be angry.

Tied, with 41 seconds to go, Tar Heels’ ball. North Carolina had led for most of the second half, only for the Wolfpack to come roaring back with a late 10-2 run that brought the Lenovo Center back to life, leaving things unsettled to the very end.

At that moment, the stakes suddenly felt oppressive, smothering. North Carolina hadn’t lost consecutive games to N.C. State since 2003. The Wolfpack’s win in the ACC title game 10 months ago felt like it was 10 minutes ago. Neither of these teams is getting top 25 votes, neither is anecdotally or analytically in the same class as Duke atop the ACC, but a game that might have meant little to anyone else meant everything to them.

As was clear, moments later, when it was over. North Carolina celebrated in front of the N.C. State bench, unexpected star Jalen Washington mocking the Wolfpack hand gesture: Wolfs Down. As the Tar Heels jumped around and the home fans blinked away their surprise, N.C. State coach Kevin Keatts stood on the court with his arms raised in disbelief over the lack of a goaltending call on the final play.

As Keatts protested, UNC assistant coach Pat Sullivan walked along the sideline to him, right hand extended. Keatts never turned his way. Sullivan shrugged and kept walking toward the other coaches. Even Hubert Davis had to wait for Keatts to turn his attention away from the officials, who had long ago left the floor.

The real disbelief may have been how a game that was even for 39 minutes and change flipped entirely in North Carolina’s direction on the final two possessions even as the Wolfpack had all the momentum. The Tar Heels scored first as N.C. State swarmed Elliot Cadeau, who found a wide-open Washington for a go-ahead dunk. Then the Wolfpack ran one of its staple plays out of a timeout. The Tar Heels comprehensively smothered it as time ticked down.

Taylor ended up with the ball at the top, drove the lane to his left and ran right into Washington, who swatted Taylor’s shot back down at him. Washington walked off with the ball and a 63-61 win. Keatts said he was surprised the officials didn’t take a look at it, but you can only review a goaltending call, not a non-call. But even if Keatts had been entitled to a review, he wasn’t winning on appeal.

That final possession appeared no more organized than the end of Wednesday’s Notre Dame game, when the Wolfpack nevertheless conjured a win. Not this time. Instead, the Tar Heels won their fourth straight one-possession game, finding a way at both ends of the floor with the game hanging in the balance.

Their reaction, in victory, was yet again evidence this is, despite the occasional protestations to the contrary, a heated, two-way rivalry, one that matters to the coaches and players on both teams. If it wasn’t immoral for Roy Williams to love two institutions, there’s no reason North Carolina can’t spread its enmity among two. (Williams certainly did.)

Which made the specter of losing two straight to the Wolfpack for the first time since Matt Doherty was on the bench — before that, it hadn’t happened since 1992 — all the more oppressive in the final moments. To that point, it had been a matter of passion, if not beauty, full of missed shots and scrambles for loose balls and full-body collisions. It was 26-20 at the half, the two teams combining to miss 50 shots.

But you’d never know at the end, nor did it matter, how they got there. It was just State and Carolina, down to the bitter end, for not much more than bragging rights, even if it felt like everything was on the line.

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