Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s remarkable career came to a thrilling and sudden end on Saturday night after Caleb Love netted a three-pointer and three late free throws to bring eternal rivals North Carolina to an 81-77 win over the Blue Devils.
It was the 258e and perhaps the best meeting between these teams, whose amphitheaters are only separated by about twenty kilometers at Tobacco Road.
The Tar Heels (29-9), of all teams, pinned the 368th and final loss against Coach K75, exactly four weeks after ruining the party in his last home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
This defeat therefore slows the legendary trainer’s last run to a one-game title victory and a chance at his sixth March Madness championship. After the game, Krzyzewski calmly walked onto the field to shake hands with Carolina rookie coach Hubert Davis.
So instead of Krzyzewski aiming for its sixth title, Carolina will go for its seventh on Monday. It will therefore be Davis and the Tar Heels who will face the Kansas Jayhawks, who beat Villanova 81-65 earlier in the other game of the Final Four.
It’s the end for “Coach K” behind the Duke bench
Coach K’s last game lived up to the hype. What a game! There were no fewer than 18 lead changes and 12 draws.
Around the two-minute mark before the end of the game, the teams traded three straight three-pointers. Wendell Moore Jr.’s three-pointer with 1:19 to go ended the flurry and gave Duke a 74-73 lead. It was the last advance of Krzyzewski’s career.
RJ Davis came back with two free throws for North Carolina, then Duke’s Mark Williams missed both of his throws from the line.
Then, Tar Heels guard Leaky Black made a block on Trevor Keels to free Love, who hit a three-pointer to provide a four-point lead that seemed like a huge leeway in what was a tight encounter.
Love made three more free throws late in the game and then it was over. Krzyzewski left the Superdome floor hand-in-hand with his wife, Mickie.
Hubert Davis was crying again, much like he did last weekend when North Carolina won its ticket to a record 21st appearance in the Final Four.
“I felt like for the last two or three years North Carolina was irrelevant,” said Davis, who replaced the legendary Roy Williams. North Carolina should never be out of place. She should be front and center with the spotlight on her. »
Kansas will play the final
David McCormack had 25 points, Ochai Agbaji was nearly perfect on the court and added 21 points, and Kansas was able to resist every comeback attempt by Villanova in an 81-65 victory that sent the Jayhawks to the ultimate game for the national title.
Christian Braun had ten points, including a key 3-point shot, and the Jayhawks (33-6) took a revenge shower on the Wildcats who beat them four years ago in San Antonio.
The last three times the Jayhawks and Wildcats met in the tournament, the winner cut the nets in the final.
Playing without injured guard Justin Moore, Villanova (31-7) saw the lone No. 1 seed reach the semifinals score the first 10 points of the game and ultimately build a 19-point cushion. And despite big nights from Collin Gillespie, Brandon Slater and Jermaine Samuels, the Wildcats were never able to get back into the game.
Gillespie, playing his 156th game with the Wildcats, had five 3-pointers and finished with 17 points, while Slater had four 3-pointers for 16 points. Samuels finished with 13 points in the final game of his college career.
Favorite by four points, Kansas had started the game thinking they would easily defeat their short-handed opponent. But Kansas qualified for the championship game on Monday with a performance that even Villanova, at full strength, could not have matched.
