There was no college basketball game in the history of the game that featured the hype of the Duke vs. North Carolina Final Four contest.
It was always going to be difficult to top the hype leading up to the first NCAA tournament game between Duke and North Carolina.
The Duke-Carolina rivalry tends to answer the bell.
In one of the best environments the sport has seen, North Carolina defeated Duke 81-77 to advance to the national championship game against Kansas.
Krzyzewski is one step short of the sport's biggest stage. He finishes his career with five national titles, 13 Final Four appearances and nine appearances in the national championship game.
Carolina made sure he wouldn't get to a 10th title game.
Both teams refused to give up an inch after the final media timeout. Brady Manek hit one on the next possession, followed by a 3 from Wendell Moore, who answered with a 3 of his own.
The game was tied at the time and Carolina had a two-point lead. Mark Williams missed two free throws on the next possession, and the Tar Heels had a four-point lead with 25 seconds left.
Love made his free throws in the final seconds to ice the game for North Carolina.
The teams showed no signs of being caught up in the hype before the game started. The two teams battled for most of the first half, with Duke holding a six-point lead at the end of the first 20 minutes.
Krzyzewski said earlier this week that they don't feel pressure. I might have felt a little bit afraid. They are not. They are not. I like that in them.
Krzyzewski and Davis had intriguing individual match ups. Jeremy Roach and Wendell Moore were tasked with chasing Brady Manek around defensively. Love is a size and length difference from the other person. At the other end of the floor, Davis went with Black, the Tar Heels' best defender, instead of Manek.
Black was stationed with one foot in the paint and Banchero looked to attack Manek off the dribble. Black hit a 3-pointer off a drive-and-kick in the opening minutes.
Which team would be able to avoid foul trouble? It was advantage North Carolina early on. Mark Williams sat on the bench for the rest of the half after he picked up his second foul. Theo John gave Duke great minutes off the bench in place of Williams, but he picked up four fouls in just 11 minutes of action, forcing Krzyzewski to use a smaller lineup with Banchero at the center spot for the final four minutes of the first half.
Duke was attacking the rim off the dribble and getting downhill. The Tar Heels had a half-court defense, but the Blue Devil were getting to the paint before it was set. They scored in the paint in the first 20 minutes. Carolina countered by getting 14 first-half points from RJ Davis and forcing the ball inside to Armando Bacot, who proved to be impossible to contain in the first half.
A couple of celebratory air-punches from Davis on the sideline came from one particular play in which multiple offensive boards resulted in Bacot going to the line for free throws.
Way to go! Good job! He yelled to his players to keep attacking.
The two teams were separated by a Jeremy Roach three-point play at the end of the first half.
The start of the second half was marked by dramatic momentum swings. Bacot picked up his third foul on a controversial play by Williams just 53 seconds into the half, with Duke opening up its biggest lead on a Banchero dunk the following play.
Carolina responded with a 13-0 run that featured 10 points from Love. Love, a former five-star recruit who has had an up-and-down two seasons in Chapel Hill, has been one of the catalysts of the Tar Heels late-season surge. He was 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217 800-273-3217
Davis said earlier in the week that he can do whatever he wants to do, but he should act like he has been there before.
Duke went on a 6-0 run to tie the game. After a Banchero jumper tied the game again with 10:52 left, there was a collective nod of appreciation.
This is a championship game. Duke guard Jeremy Roach said on Thursday that they are not looking at the game as a rivalry. It is another opponent in our way. UNC is a great team. They are going to play their ass off for 40 minutes. It is a championship game.
The second half was marked by remarkable momentum swings. The Tar Heels looked to be in control after a five-point run highlighted by a basket-and-foul that gave Williams his fourth foul. Then Duke responded with a 6-0 run that took just 34 seconds, sparked by a Banchero block on a Bacot dunk attempt.
The only time the crowd could be quiet was with 5:18 left. Bacot landed awkwardly on Black's foot and had to be helped off the bench. He went to the end of the bench under his own power and was checked out and then returned to the bench.
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