If you’re reading this, take a breath.
It seemed impossible that Carolina and Duke meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the first time, and in the Final Four in the Superdome of all places, could possibly live up to the enormous hype.
But for 40 minutes Saturday night, it did and then some.
The Blue Devils and Tar Heels traded haymakers all night in the Big Easy, whipping the crowd of 70,062 into a frenzy. The score was tied 12 separate times, and the lead changed hands a whopping 18 times before the final buzzer sounded. It was a game neither team lost, but one which one team had to lose. Fortunately for Carolina fans (though unfortunately for Franklin Street clean-up crews), that team was the Blue Devils.
Farewell.#CarolinaFamily | @WellsFargo pic.twitter.com/0AkvQLJ1OU
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) April 3, 2022
“I’m locked into the moment, but there were some spurts where I’m like, ‘Man, this is a hell of a game,'” sophomore guard R.J. Davis said. “You look around, you see 70,000 people… it’s special.”
Davis provided almost all of Carolina’s offense in a first half marred by poor shooting from the Tar Heels. Davis scored 14 points on 5-7 shooting in the opening 20 minutes, but no teammate scored more than six. Outside of Davis, Carolina shot 7-27 in the first half. Particularly troubling was a 1-5 shooting performance from graduate forward Brady Manek, who had just four points.
“I feel like in the first half we were settling for jump shots,” said head coach Hubert Davis. “Especially when [Duke center] Mark Williams was out of the game, I felt like it was an opportunity for us to attack the basket… I just felt like we could get better shots.”
Williams’ foul situation became an early storyline, as the seven-foot, one-inch ACC Defensive Player of the Year picked up two in the first half and went to the bench. Duke replaced him with Theo John, who quickly picked up four fouls of his own before halftime while battling down low with UNC’s Armando Bacot. Bacot grabbed nine rebounds in the first half alone, but struggled from the floor, making just one of his five shots.
The Tar Heels tied the game at 34-34 after trailing late in the period, but saw the Blue Devils shoot back in front before halftime on a three-point play from point guard Jeremy Roach. Roach challenged Justin McKoy at the rim on the play, taking advantage of the defensive matchup while Bacot sat with two fouls.
“From a defensive standpoint, our emphasis going into the game was to protect the paint,” Davis said. “At halftime they had 26 of the 37 points in the paint. I said we’ve got to do a good job keeping them away from getting layups and dunks and make them make contested jump shots.”
After the relatively timid first half in which both teams appeared tight at times, the game opened up in a major way in the second half. Duke likely made Davis fume by scoring its first four points of the half on dunks from Paolo Banchero and Williams to lead by seven points, but Carolina responded with a lightning-quick 13-0 run, powered by 10 points from sophomore guard Caleb Love and Manek’s first three-pointer of the game. Love, who had just six points in the first half, stirred up memories of his performance against UCLA in the Sweet 16 by catching fire in the second, but without a change of footwear this time.
“I was just in a rhythm,” Love said. “To put us in the best position to win, I feel like I need the ball in my hands.”
The Carolina offense flowed through its enigmatic guard throughout the second half: Love took 12 shots, while no other Tar Heel took more than six. After one particular layup in the 13-0 run forced a Duke timeout, Love took time to fire up the crowd at midcourt before joining his team in the huddle. Though Davis would have been justified in being miffed at his player, he instead praised him for the gesture.
“I love seeing Caleb get into the game,” he said. “We’re so connected on and off the court. And it doesn’t guarantee wins, but it does put yourself in a position to maybe do something special.”
Duke fired back with six unanswered points of its own to even things up at 47-47, and then the game officially shifted into overdrive. Neither team put together a lead larger than five points for the remainder of the night, and though Duke fought back from each Tar Heel basket, the Blue Devils never led by more than a point.
“Just to see the fanbases from both teams, just to see how loud it is… it’s amazing,” R.J. Davis said. “I enjoyed this game. It was a fun game to play.”
Duke kept pace thanks to a combined 21 points in the second half from Banchero and Trevor Keels, who came off the bench in a sixth-man role for head coach Mike Krzyzewski. But the Blue Devils were hard-pressed to find any offense outside of those two, as Williams and John battled through foul trouble and A.J. Griffin ran into tough defense from Leaky Black. Griffin finished with just six points and no three-pointers. After scoring 27 in the first game of the season series in Chapel Hill, Griffin combined for only 11 in the next two.
“I’m just trying to win. I’m out there playing hard,” Black said. “A.J.’s a great player. My thing is, if they don’t have the ball, it’s harder for them to score. I just tried to stay on him as much as possible.
“He’s a great player. Him and Paolo,” Black went on. “Pretty sure they’re gonna make a lot of money next year.”
Keels stepped up in Griffin’s absence, and made what appeared to be one of the plays of the game when, after a steal and missed layup from Roach, Keels followed up the miss with a putback while drawing a foul on R.J. Davis. Though Keels missed the ensuing free throw, the basket gave Duke a 63-62 lead with seven minutes remaining.
“It’s a game of runs,” said Black. “It’s just a matter of everyone keeping their composure. We knew they were gonna make runs. It is what it is. But we just had to keep our composure and keep fighting back, and that’s what we did.”
The Blue Devils wouldn’t make another basket for the next five minutes of game time. The ensuing action saw a major scare for Carolina fans though, as Bacot fell awkwardly under the basket and came up limping heavily on his ankle. Bacot had to leave the game temporarily for reserve Puff Johnson, but re-entered shortly thereafter.
“At that moment, I was just freaking the hell out,” Bacot said. “I didn’t know what was wrong with my ankle, and it was just not a good feeling at all… I was glad I got to be out there, even if it was just to tap a few rebounds.”
Bacot’s Willis Reed-esque return to the court wouldn’t last long, though as the big man fouled out with under a minute to go. Bacot exited with 11 points and 21 rebounds, having secured his 30th double-double of the season. That vaulted him into first place all-time as the ACC single-season record holder. As Bacot went to the bench, Carolina held a tenuous 75-74 lead on the strength of two free throws from R.J. Davis. Those points came after a breathless sequence which saw Keels hit a three, Manek answer with one of his own and then Wendell Moore, Jr. knock in a triple off an offensive rebound.
Bacot may have been the only person in the building to take a seat in the final minute. 70,000 fans rose as one, and all saw Williams miss two critical free throws after the foul on Bacot. Duke elected not to foul Carolina with under a minute to go, and Love once again called his own number, pulling up for a deep three-pointer and swishing it to put the Tar Heels up by four points. Love added UNC’s final three points of the night on free throws to give him 22 in the second half and 28 on the game. He’s scored 20 or more points in three of Carolina’s five NCAA Tournament games.
“Coach believes to put the ball in my hands, and that’s what happens,” Love said.
One final missed three-pointer from Keels set off a wild celebration inside the Superdome, one which saw Black overcome with emotion and doubled over while coming off the floor.
Leaky Black. Overwhelmed with emotion coming off the floor. pic.twitter.com/vGtKr0t0oA
— Josh Graham (@JoshGrahamRadio) April 3, 2022
“It’s been a rough career,” Black said. “Me being a kid, obviously I’m on social media a little bit, so I see what everyone was saying. But this game right here, it was kind of like, ‘What’re they gonna say now?'”
In the postgame fracas, it was easy to forget Bacot’s tender ankle. But Hubert Davis remained confident his star big man would play in Monday night’s national championship game against No. 1 seed Kansas.
“He will play. Even if he just stands there, he’s going to play,” Davis said, before adding wryly, “We’re going to trick Kansas. He’ll just sit there in the middle of the lane.”
Even if UNC employed that dubious strategy in two days’ time, it wouldn’t erase the sweetness of this particular victory for Tar Heel fans. Carolina advanced to the title game and ended Krzyzewski’s career with a loss in one fell swoop. People build statues for that kind of achievement, but the Tar Heels are well aware another steep challenge awaits on Monday. The Jayhawks roll into the title game off a decisive victory over No. 2 seed Villanova, a game in which Kansas never trailed. Carolina will likely be the underdog for the fourth time during this NCAA Tournament, but it’s safe to say the Tar Heels don’t pay much attention to things like that.
“Coach Davis loves to say ‘Ignore all sideshow distractions,'” Black said. “Everyone’s gonna talk. It is what it is. But we’re playing for the national championship, so they can’t really say much now.”
Featured image via Todd Melet. For a full photo gallery, click here.
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