Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's outstanding profession got here to thrilling and sudden shut Saturday evening after Caleb Love made a key 3-pointer and three late free throws to raise archrival North Carolina to a thrill-a-minute 81-77 victory over the Blue Devils.
This was the 258th, most consequential and perhaps, simply perhaps, the perfect assembly between these groups, whose arenas are separated by a scant 11 miles down in Tobacco Highway.
The Tar Heels (29-9), of all groups, pinned the 368th and closing loss on the 75-year-old Coach Ok, precisely 4 weeks after they ruined the going-away celebration in his closing house sport at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
That loss damage. This one stopped the coach's last-gasp, storybook run one win away from a title sport and an opportunity at his sixth championship. When it was over, after enjoying by way of the nip-and-tuck stretch run with out a timeout, Krzyzewski walked calmly to halfcourt and shook the hand of Carolina's rookie coach, Hubert Davis.
So, as a substitute of Krzyzewski going for his sixth title, on Monday, Carolina will go for its seventh. It is going to be Davis, Love, who led the Tar Heels with 28 factors, and R.J. Davis, who scored 18, going towards Kansas, which beat Villanova 81-65 earlier within the undercard.
The principle occasion lived as much as the hype. What a sport! It featured 18 lead modifications and 12 ties.
At across the 2-minute mark, the groups traded three straight 3s. Wendell Moore Jr.'s 3-pointer with 1:19 left ended the flurry and gave Duke a 74-73 lead. It was the final lead of Krzyzewski's profession.
R.J. Davis got here again with two free throws, then after Duke's Mark Williams, in foul hassle all evening, missed a pair from the road, Carolina labored the ball across the perimeter.
Tar Heels guard Leaky Black set a choose — make that threw a block — on Trevor Keels to release Love, who drained a 3 for a four-point lead and what felt like large respiration room on this one.
Love made three extra free throws down the stretch, after which it was over. Krzyzewski walked off the Superdome ground hand in hand along with his spouse, Mickie.
Hubert Davis was crying once more, a lot as he did final weekend when North Carolina punched its ticket to its file twenty first Last 4.
"I felt like during the last two or three years, North Carolina wasn't related," stated Davis, who changed the legendary Roy Williams. "North Carolina ought to by no means be irrelevant. It ought to be entrance and middle with the highlight on them."