Tar Heels Victorious Over Duke in the Final Four, Ending Coach K’s Career

Caleb Love #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels shoots the ball in the second half of the game against the Duke Blue Devils during the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal at Caesars Superdome, in New Orleans, on April 2, 2022. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

The North Carolina Tar Heels took down their greatest rival, Duke Blue Devils, 81–77 to reach the finals of the NCAA Basketball Championships, ending Hall of Fame Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career, at the Final Four in the Superdome, New Orleans, on April 2.

North Carolina will meet Kansas for the championship game Monday night.

Krzyzewski won five championships and holds the all-time winning record in college basketball with 1,202 victories. Other all-time records for “Coach K” in the NCAA Tournament are 36 appearances, 101 wins, 26 Sweet 16 appearances, 17 Elite 8 appearances, and 13 Final Four appearances.

At 75 years old, Krzyzewski had announced his retirement before the beginning of the 2021–2022 season.

During Krzyzewski’s tenure, this was the team’s first match-up in the NCAA tournament, giving him a total record of 50–48 against the rivals 11 miles away on Tobacco Road.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils talks to the press as Paolo Banchero #5 and Trevor Keels #1 look on after losing to the North Carolina Tar Heels 81–77 in the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal at Caesars Superdome, in New Orleans, on April 2, 2022. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

“It’s not about me,” said Krzyzewski. “Especially right now. I’ve said my entire career that I wanted my seasons to end where my team was either crying tears of joy or tears of sorrow. Because then you knew that they gave everything.”

In a tightly contested battle, there were 18 lead changes until the 1:01 remaining in the game when Tar Heels’ R. J. Davis made two free throws to take the final lead 75–74.

Theo John #12 of the Duke Blue Devils dunks the ball in the first half of the game against the North Carolina Tar Heels during the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal at Caesars Superdome, in New Orleans, on April 2, 2022. (Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

What made the difference in the game was that the Tar Heels made 38.5 percent (10 of 26) from the three-point line, compared to Duke’s 5 of 22 at 22.7 percent, and the Tar Heels also had the edge from the free-throw line, making 17 of 24 compared to the Blue Devils with 12 of 20.

“I’m just really proud of our guys how they stepped up in pressure situations,” said Tar Heels’ rookie coach Hubert Davis. “This is something that this team and these players have done consistently all year long.”

“With two or three minutes left to go in the game, we were in a timeout and I said guys, we’ve been here before,” added Davis. “This should be a place of peace and confidence, because we’ve been in these situations before and we’ve come up big and so all we need to do is just execute on both ends.”

Davis finished, saying, “We all just smiled and laughed at each other, but I’ve said before the togetherness and the health of this team has been great, and I’m just really proud of the kids.”

Head coach Hubert Davis and Armando Bacot #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels talk to the press after defeating the Duke Blue Devils 81–77 in the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal at Caesars Superdome, in New Orleans, on April 2, 2022. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

Davis played at Carolina from 1998–1992 before a long career in the NBA, and took over the Tar Heels head coaching job from Roy Williams, leading the Tar Heels to their 12th Championship game.

Caleb Love led the Tar Heels with 28 points on 11 of 20 shooting and 3 of 10 threes. R.J Davis added 18 points on 6 of 13 shooting, and seven rebounds.

Brady Manek contributed 14 points and four rebounds, and Armando Bacot scored 11 points alongside 21 rebounds before fouling out with with 47 seconds remaining in the game.

Duke was led by Paolo Banchero with 20 points on 8 of 17 shooting and collected 10 rebounds. Trevor Keels came off the bench with 19 big points on 8 of 14 shooting.

Wendell Moore Jr. added 10 points and with boards for Duke. Mark Williams and Jeremy Roach both contributed with eight points each.

The first half ended with Roach’s traditional three-point play to take a three point lead 37–34 into the locker room.

Brady Manek #45 and Leaky Black #1 of the North Carolina Tar Heels jump to gain control of the ball in the second half of the game against the Duke Blue Devils during the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal at Caesars Superdome, in New Orleans, on April 2, 2022. (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The second half was marked by runs with Duke taking a 41–34 on Banchero’s dunk with 18:54 in the game. Carolina then rallied to lead 47–41 with Love’s layup at the 16:26 mark, before Banchero tied the game at 47 with 13:53 remaining.

It would remain close with the Tar Heels twice taking a five-point lead before Duke tied the game again, before taking a one-point lead, 65–64, with A.J. Griffin’s two made free throws at 6:38 left in the game.

Griffin gave Duke a 67–65 lead with two free throws coming from a foul on Leaky Black left with 5:18 remaining.

A concerning moment occurred with Tar Heels’ Bacot spraining his right ankle on a defensive play. Bacot went to the locker room to quickly return with 4:36 remaining.

Lead changes continued until Love’s three-pointer gave the Tar Heels their final lead at 78–74 with 28 seconds left in the game. Roach would get Duke within two, but could not stop Love’s six points in the final minute as he added three of four free throws to end the game with a 81–77 victory.

The #8 ranked Tar Heels face #1 Kansas in the championship game on Monday at 6:20 p.m. ET.