No. 8 UNC Upsets Banchero, No. 2 Duke in Final Four in Mike Krzyzewski’s Final Game

AP Photo/Gerald Herbert

The North Carolina Tar Heels have ended Mike Krzyzewski’s coaching career with an 81-77 victory over the Duke Blue Devils on Saturday night to clinch a berth in the 2022 men’s national championship game.

One month after spoiling Coach K’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, North Carolina stopped his bid to retire with a national title. The Tar Heels made their own history by tying an NCAA record as the lowest-seeded team to reach the championship game.

North Carolina is the fifth No. 8 seed to advance to the final. UCLA (1980), Villanova (1985), Butler (2011) and Kentucky (2014) previously accomplished the feat. Head coach Hubert Davis’ team can join the 1985 Wildcats as the lowest-seeded national champion if it gets one more win Monday.

Saturday was Krzyzewski’s opportunity for revenge against Duke’s biggest rival. The Blue Devils allowed a season-high 94 points to North Carolina on March 5. Their defense tightened up in the tournament, holding their first four opponents to 69.8 points per game.

Neither team put their best foot forward in the first half. They combined to shoot 39.4 percent from the field in the first half (5-of-27 from three-point range). Duke took to a 37-34 lead into the break thanks to Jeremy Roach’s layup-and-1 with 4.1 seconds remaining in the first half. 

The Blue Devils’ bench tandem of Trevor Keels and Theo John were instrumental in the team’s first-half success. They combined for 14 points on 7-of-10 shooting. 

R.J. Davis was on fire in the first 20 minutes for North Carolina. He had 14 points, four rebounds and two assists. 

An 11-0 run for the Tar Heels early in the second half turned a seven-point deficit into a five-point lead. 

The home stretch of the second half was as good as there has been so far in the tournament. Three consecutive possessions ended in a three-pointer, with the end result being Duke taking a 74-73 lead with 1:18 left to play. 

Love’s three-pointer with 28 seconds left put North Carolina up by four. After a Jeremy Roach layup, he missed the back end of a one-and-one to keep Duke within three points with 10.4 seconds remaining. 

The Tar Heels fouled Keels, who could only make one of his two attempts to make it a 79-77 game. Love made his two free throws this time to seal the win, and end Krzyzewski’s quest for a title in his final season. 

Notable Game Stats

• Caleb Love (UNC): 28 points (11-of-20 FG), 4 rebounds
• R.J. Davis (UNC): 18 points (6-of-13 FG), 7 rebounds, 4 assists
• Armando Bacot (UNC): 11 points (3-of-10 FG), 21 rebounds
• Paolo Banchero (Duke): 20 points (8-of-17 FG), 10 rebounds, 2 assists
• Trevor Keels (Duke): 19 points (8-of-14 FG)
• Wendell Moore Jr. (Duke): 10 points (4-of-14 FG), 8 rebounds

What’s Next?

North Carolina will play Kansas in the national championship game on Monday at 9 p.m. ET.

This article will be
updated shortly to provide more information on this game.

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