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 fell short of solving these Blue Devils, who held on for a dramatic 74-71 victory in the ACC Tournament semifinals at the Spectrum Center. Duke won shorthanded, despite the absences of the injured Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown.
UNC all but erased a 24-point deficit in the second half. The comeback looked improbable, if not impossible, with 8½ minutes remaining, when Duke led 65-47 and appeared to be firmly in control. But the Tar Heels refused to wilt on this night, as their NCAA Tournament livelihood twisted and perhaps hung in the balance.
At the end, as fifth-seeded Carolina moved closer — to within 70-64 with less than 4½ minutes left, to within 72-69 with 1:52 to go — this became a frantic finish that had the packed house here collectively on its feet. Ven-Allen Lubin, in the final moments of arguably his best effort this season, went to the foul line for two shots with 4.1 seconds remaining and UNC trailing 72-71.
Lubin missed the first free throw. Then, as Lubin’s second free throw connected, official Bert Smith whistled UNC forward Jae’Lyn Withers for committing a lane violation, wiping out the successful free throw that would’ve tied the score. Replays showed the call to be correct. The sixth-year senior Withers, positioned between Duke’s Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba, briefly stepped his right foot into the painted lane area, before hopping out.
Kon Knueppel sank a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left, giving top-seeded 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 with a towel covering his head, undoubtedly crushed by the costly blunder on Lubin’s second 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 second-seeded Louisville (27-6) here on Saturday night in the ACC Tournament championship game.
Carolina still hasn’t claimed an ACC Tournament title since 2016. And this loss, with the Tar Heels (22-13) tumbling into a mineshaft of a deficit as deep as 52-28 in the second half, before emphatically reversing course and roaring back to the brink of victory, will be the final impression they leave with the NCAA Tournament selection committee.
Lubin delivered a season-high 20 points and hauled in 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double, and fourth such effort across the last five games. Lubin had 12 points and eight rebounds in the second half. Elliot Cadeau supplied 11 of his 15 points in the second half, and Seth Trimble scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, when UNC unleashed a 38-18 run to rocket back into contention. Cadeau canned Carolina’s three successful 3-pointers. The Tar Heels finished 3-for-17 beyond the arc.
UNC dipped to 8-2 across its last 10 games, and sunk to 1-12 in Quad 1 games on the season. Now, coach Hubert Davis and the Tar Heels await their NCAA Tournament fate on Selection Sunday.
Knueppel’s 17 points and Khaman Maluach’s 13 points and nine rebounds led five Duke players in double-digit scoring on Friday night. Sion James (12 points), Ngongba (12 points off the bench) and Tyrese Proctor (11 points) also contributed for the Blue Devils, who were without Flagg, the ACC’s Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year, due to an ankle injury suffered during Thursday’s quarterfinal defeat of Georgia Tech.
UNC forward Ven-Allen Lubin bangs with Duke big man Khaman Maluach on Friday night in the ACC Tournament. (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 high-profile matchups have resulted in victories for UNC.
