UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Put the Final Nail in the Coffin of Coach K and the Blue Devils With the Exciting Win
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
In the most anticipated game and one of the biggest games in college basketball history, the North Carolina basketball team competed against their rival Duke on Saturday night for the first time in the two schools’ history. The Tar Heels got off to a rough start with just hitting 1 of their first 8 shots, but their defense kept them in the game early.
UNC’s offense struggled for most of the half, but the one bright spot was RJ Davis with his 14 first-half points. Even though Carolina did not play their best half, they were only down three going into halftime. The Heels shot just 35% from the field in the first half, while Duke shot 43% percent from the field and made most of their baskets in the paint.
In the second half, Duke came out and got the lead up to seven before UNC went on an 11-0 run and took the lead. This was a real intense game that went back and forth. Both teams played well and gave all they had out there on the court. There were 18 lead changes in the game and the game was tied several times.
Caleb Love completely took over the game for the Tar Heels in the second half with 22 points and Armando Bacot was dominant once again with 11 points and 21 rebounds. Both teams hit big shot after big shot, but Carolina was the team to make the biggest plays down the stretch to pull out the win.
No shot was bigger than the three Caleb Love made with 28 seconds left to put UNC up 4 points. The Tar Heels hit 7 threes in the second half and hit some clutch free throws late to ice out the game. North Carolina advances to the national title game after their 81-77 win over Duke and beat Coach K in his last game as a coach.
UNC Game Stats
1 2 T
North Carolina 34 47 81
Duke 37 40 77
North Carolina
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |||||||
| A. Bacot F | — | 3-10 | 0-0 | 5-8 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | |||||||
| B. Manek F | — | 4-10 | 3-6 | 3-6 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 14 | |||||||
| R.J. Davis G | — | 6-13 | 2-4 | 4-4 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 18 | |||||||
| C. Love G | — | 11-20 | 3-10 | 3-4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 28 | |||||||
| L. Black G | — | 3-9 | 2-5 | 0-0 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 8 | |||||||
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |||||||
| J. McKoy F | — | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||||||
| P. Johnson G | — | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2-2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |||||||
| D. Styles G | — | 0-2 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| TEAM | 27-64 | 10-26 | 17-24 | 17 | 33 | 50 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 10 | 19 | 81 | ||||||||
| 42.2% | 38.5% | 70.8% | ||||||||||||||||||
Duke
| STARTERS | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| W. Moore Jr. F | — | 4-14 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 |
| AJ Griffin F | — | 1-7 | 0-4 | 4-4 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| P. Banchero F | — | 8-17 | 2-4 | 2-4 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 20 |
| M. Williams C | — | 4-5 | 0-0 | 0-2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| J. Roach G | — | 2-11 | 0-5 | 4-5 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| BENCH | MIN | FG | 3PT | FT | OREB | DREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| T. John F | — | 3-4 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 |
| T. Keels G | — | 8-14 | 2-7 | 1-3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 19 |
| TEAM | 30-72 | 5-22 | 12-20 | 15 | 26 | 41 | 12 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 77 | |
| 41.7% | 22.7% | 60.0% |
UNC Bright Spots
Caleb Love had 28 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist.
RJ Davis had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Brady Manek had 14 points and 4 rebounds.
Armando Bacot had 11 points, 21 rebounds, 1 steal, and 1 block
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to do a better job of crashing the defensive glass. In this game, Duke had entirely too many second-chance points.
They also need to do a better job of taking care of the ball and cutting down on their turnovers.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels are going to the National Championship to win their eighth title. There is no better feeling than advancing to the title game by beating your rival. In addition, they sent Coach K into retirement with a loss.
The Heels have won 4 out of their 5 games against Duke. It is an end of an era with Coach K retiring and the Tar Heels now have the biggest win in the historic rivalry. This game definitely lived up to the hype and the Tar Heels stepped up to the challenge to pull out the big win.
Caleb Love has been exceptional this whole tournament role and has definitely boosted his draft stock with the way he has played. Armando Bacot has also been great and has recorded a double-double in every game in the tournament thus far. He now has the most double-doubles for an ACC player in a single season and is one game away from tying the record for the most double-doubles in a single season in NCAA history. Next up is Kansas in the national championship game on Monday at 9:20 P.M.