CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina’s late-season run toward potentially cracking the NCAA Tournament bracket couldn’t pick up a significant speed boost on Friday night, even with Duke not operating at full capacity.
The Tar Heels stormed back on the strength of a sea-changing rally in the second half, but still couldn’t solve the Blue Devils, who held on for a dramatic 74-71 victory in the ACC Tournament semifinals at the Spectrum Center. Duke won despite the absences of the injured Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown.
Amid the frantic ending, Ven-Allen Lubin went to the foul line with 4.1 seconds remaining and UNC trailing 72-71. He missed the first free throw. Then, as Lubin’s second free throw connected, official Bert Smith called UNC forward Jae’Lyn Withers for a lane violation, wiping out the successful free throw.
Kon Knueppel’s pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left gave Duke a 74-71 lead. Carolina inbounded with 2.5 seconds to go, and Lubin had to squeeze off a fading 3-point attempt that missed at the final horn. Withers walked through the handshake line and off the court with a towel covering his head, undoubtedly despondent from the costly mental blunder on the free throw.
So the Blue Devils, the No. 1 team nationally in the AP Top 25 poll, defeated the Tar Heels for the third time this season, marking the first time either team has delivered a three-game sweep of the rivalry since the 2001-02 season. Duke (30-3) will meet either Louisville or Clemson here on Saturday night in the ACC Tournament championship.
Carolina hasn’t claimed an ACC Tournament title since 2016. And this loss, with the Tar Heels tumbling behind into a 24-point deficit, but reversing course and roaring back, will be the final impression they leave with the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Knueppel’s 17 points and Khaman Maluach’s 13 points topped five players in double-digit scoring for the Blue Devils.
Lubin (20 points, 10 rebounds), Elliot Cadeau (15 points) and Seth Trimble (14 points) were key contributors for the Tar Heels (22-13), who unleashed a 38-18 run in the second half after trailing 52-28.
(Photo: Jim Hawkins / Inside Carolina)
Duke smothers Tar Heels, closes first half on big run
Duke led 45-24 by halftime, after lowering the boom on a suffocating 15-0 burst into the intermission break. Carolina went scoreless for the remainder of the first half after Elliot Cadeau sank UNC’s first 3-pointer of the game with 5:03 left in the half.
The Tar Heels simply fell apart, going empty on the final eight possessions of the first half. And coach Hubert Davis didn’t use any timeouts to try to stop the bleeding there. Kon Knueppel’s 12 first-half points helped fuel the Blue Devils, who had shot 15-for-30 from the field and grabbed a 23-14 rebounding advantage by halftime. UNC led 5-2 in rebounding early on, before Khaman Maluach’s giant presence helped Duke take control on the glass.
Ven-Allen Lubin’s eight first-half points topped the Tar Heels, who became rattled as the first half grew older. Carolina shot just 10-for-28 from the field, including 1-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half. The Tar Heels missed their first seven 3-point attempts of the night, before Cadeau finally knocked down a catch-and-shoot from the wing. But then, Lubin uncorked an awkward shot beyond the arc, an air ball that wasn’t anywhere close, as UNC’s struggles began to worsen.
Duke converted the Tar Heels’ seven turnovers during the first half into 10 points. “They’ve scored on all of our mistakes!” Hubert Davis barked at the UNC bench during one frustrating moment. “All of them!”
Ten minutes into this game, Duke led 14-13, after Lubin hit Drake Powell for a layup on a backdoor cut. From there, across the last 9:48 of the first half, the Blue Devils outscored Carolina 31-11. Knueppel’s catch-and-shoot 3-pointer started Duke’s first-half takeover.
Next on the schedule
It figures to be an anxious weekend for UNC as Selection Sunday approaches, and the Tar Heels wait to learn their NCAA Tournament fate. Carolina dropped to 8-2 across its last 10 games, and 9-3 over its previous 12 games, by way of Friday night’s loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
UNC has trended toward the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, while beating Notre Dame and Wake Forest here in the ACC Tournament, and picking up a number of other beneficial results from around college basketball to help its case. But the Tar Heels remain on bubble watch, along with other NCAA Tournament hopefuls such as Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Baylor, San Diego State, Indiana, Xavier, Texas, Boise State, Ohio State and Colorado State.
Carolina played its eighth game of the season against an opponent ranked among the top 10 in the AP Top 25 poll on Friday night. And the Tar Heels have squared off against five teams — Auburn, Duke, Florida, Alabama and Michigan State — who are projected to earn lofty NCAA Tournament seed assignments either on the No. 1 or No. 2 lines in the 68-team bracket. But none of those matchups resulted in Tar Heel wins.
