CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Blood poured from his nose and onto his lip, chin and the court. The latest bruised face of college basketball’s nastiest rivalry belongs to North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough.

“Just a little bump and bruise,” teammate Reyshawn Terry said. “Nothing that a little ice can’t handle.”

Hansbrough had 26 points and 17 rebounds before suffering an injury that looked worse than it really was in the closing seconds of the no. 8 Tar Heels’ 86–72 win over 14th-ranked Duke yesterday, clinching the top seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Terry added 15 points in his final home game for the Tar Heels (25–6, 11–5), who swept the regular-season series with the Blue Devils for the first time in 11 years, avoided their first three-game slide under Roy Williams, and gave the homespun coach his 100th victory at his alma mater.

But perhaps the lasting image of the intense rivalry is Hansbrough’s bloodstained face, a scary-looking picture that evoked memories of center Eric Montross’s bleeding, shaven head after he took an elbow in 1992. The latest injury came with 14.5 seconds left, when Hansbrough leaped for a layup. After the ball left his hand, he was struck in the face by Gerald Henderson’s right elbow.

“He got our guys in the air, and I came down on him,” Henderson said. “It’s unfortunate that it turned out like it did, but I wasn’t trying to hurt the kid or anything. It just turned worse than it was.”

Hansbrough crumpled to the ground, his nose bleeding onto the floor and down his face, before he jumped to his feet menacingly and had to be restrained from Duke’s players while he was taken to the locker room. The officials reviewed the play and ejected Henderson, then later said in a joint statement that under NCAA rules he would be suspended for one game.

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FLORIDA 85, KENTUCKY, 72

Joakim Noah was thumping his chest, screaming at the top of his lungs, and pumping up teammates with his hustle and tenacious defense.

Noah was back to his usual self — and so was Florida.

Noah broke out of a slump with 17 points and 10 rebounds, played with the kind of passion missing in recent games and helped the fifthranked Gators rebound from consecutive losses and make history with an 85–72 victory against Kentucky yesterday.

Florida became the first Southeastern Conference team to win six in a row against the Wildcats. Only Notre Dame has won seven straight against the storied program.

The Gators (26–5, 13–3) got behind early and were tied at halftime, but they used a 13–2 run to open the second half and pulled away down the stretch to finish the season unbeaten at home (18-0).

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LOUISVILLE 86, SETON HALL, 71

A year ago, during Louisville’s tumultuous transition to the Big East, coach Rick Pitino wondered if the Cardinals truly belonged in one of the nation’s toughest conferences.

He doesn’t wonder anymore.

The 16th-ranked Cardinals capped their remarkable turnaround season with an 86–71 win over Seton Hall yesterday, propelling Louisville (22–8, 12–4) into second-place in the Big East and erasing any lingering doubt Pitino had about his team’s toughness.

“We’re now a legitimate Big East team, and we weren’t last year,” Pitino said. “In just eight months we’ve changed that whole mindset.”

It’s a mindset Pitino thinks will serve the Cardinals well in the upcoming Big East tournament, and one they showcased against a game Seton Hall squad that hardly looked like a team playing out the string.

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CLEMSON 75, VIRGINIA TECH 74

Clemson showed it could take the heat.

The Tigers withstood secondhalf pressure from no. 21 Virginia Tech yesterday for a 75–74 victory that prevented the Hokies from capturing a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s regular-season title.

“We’re not a clutch team, but we needed this win and we got it,” said K.C. Rivers, who led the Tigers (21–9, 7–9) with 22 points and scored the decisive basket with 18 seconds remaining. Rivers, whose season average is 13 points, was 5–for–7 from 3-point range and hit all three of his second-half attempts.

Cliff Hammonds added 17 points and six assists for the Tigers in the ACC regular-season finale for both teams.

“We made a couple of big plays down the stretch,” Hammonds, who had three 3-pointers, said.

The Tigers shot 61% in the second half, including 75% from behind the arc. The Hokies (20–10, 10–6) shot 64% after halftime, but only 33% from 3-point range.