In a game for the ages between rivals, UNC’s Caleb Love puts a dagger in Duke to end Coach K’s long retirement tour, 81-77 in the semi-finals of the NCAA Four. (4/2)
The Tar Heels, led by Love’s 28 points (22 of them in the second half), move on to face Kansas in Monday’s championship finale.
Trailing 74-73 with just over a minute to play, Carolina went on a modest, but game-deciding 8-3 run to end the game. The big bucket was a three from Love from the top of the key with less than 30 seconds to go, giving the Heels a two possession lead at 78-74.
Three free throws from Love in the last 17 seconds wrapped it up and put an end to Duke’s storybook ending for Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“It’s not about me, especially right now,” Coach K said, pointing to his players. “I’m just concerned about these guys.” He later said he felt blessed to be in the arena for a long time.
UNC coach Hubert Davis, on the other hand, is coaching his first year. Davis played in a Final Four as a player at Carolina and he keeps talking about wanting his players to have such memories. “I’ve desperately wanted them to have their good memories, testimonies and stories and here I’m getting them along with them,” he said as if genuinely it was a revelation.
Down seven at 41-34 early in the second half, it started looking like this game might be a bad memory for the Tar Heels. But Carolina went on a game-changing 13-0 run over a two-and-half-minute span.
Love started the run with his first two three-pointers of the game and then Brady Manek, who had just two points in the first half, drilled his first three of the game. A driving layup, followed by a runner by Love put Carolina up 47-41 with less than 16 minutes left.
Duke, behind Pablo Banchero, who led the Blue Devils with 20 points, caught up within two minutes and the game went back and forth the rest of the way with 11 lead changes and three ties.
Key plays for the Tar Heels leading up to Love’s big three late included an old-fashioned three-point play for Armando Bacot, who battled foul trouble and a late injury, to break one tie and a driving, contested scoop shot by Love that put the Heels up 69-68 with just over three minutes to go.
“That (Duke) team is the best team so far that we’ve played,” Coach Davis said. “We just happened to make more plays tonight.”
In the first half it was Duke that made more plays as the Devils led by as many as six points before settling for a 37-34 halftime advantage. UNC point guard R.J. Davis kept the Heels in the game with 14 of his 18 points in the first half.
“In the first half, we were settling for jump shots,” Coach Davis said. “We had opportunities to to attack the basket after (Duke center Mike) Williams left the game (with foul trouble) but didn’t do it.”
In the second half, he said his Tar Heels worked the ball in and penetrated the lane more. But just as importantly, he said the Heels cut down on Duke’s points in the paint. “They got 26 of their 37 points in the paint in the first half,” he said. “Our guys were terrific defensively in the second half.”
Carolina held the Devils, who had been shooting 54 percent in tournament games, to less than 42 percent shooting.
Joining Love and Davis in double figuring scoring for Carolina were Manek, who got 12 of his 14 points in the second half, and Bacot, who had 11 points but more impressively 21 rebounds.
Carolina, now 29-9 overall, plays Kansas in the finals Monday night in New Orleans. Duke and the now retired Coach K finish the season 32-7.
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