The first-ever NCAA Tournament game between Duke and North Carolina is no longer something farfetched.
This dream showdown will take place in the national semi-finals next Saturday if the Blue Devils and Tar Heels can win another game.
Caleb Love led North Carolina to the Elite Eight on Friday night thanks to a string of twisty late-game layups and deep 3-pointers. The shooting sophomore quarterback changed shoes after the break and then scored all but three of his 30 points in the second half, rallying the No. 8 Tar Heels for a 73-66 victory over No. 4 UCLA.
Love’s two biggest baskets were 3-pointers in the last two minutes of a tight second half.
The first, created by an acrobatic save by Armando Bakota when falling out of bounds, equalized the score – 64.
The second, which came from behind a Brady Maneka no-ball screen, gave North Carolina a three-point lead that the Tar Heels didn’t concede from.
What made Love fire up after the break after the first half with 1 for 8? Love trusted his confidence … and North Carolina director of basketball operations Eric Hoots’ superstitious suggestion to switch from the black Jordans to the Carolina Blues.
“I never play well in black shoes, so he told me to change,” Love said with a smile. “It worked.”
North Carolina’s victory continues the incredible leap from the NCAA tournament bubble to the cusp of the Final Four. Now the Pitch Heels only need to beat March’s 15th-seeded St. Peters on Sunday to reach New Orleans.
Duke advanced to the Elite Eight on Thursday night, missing no shot in the final eight-plus minutes to pass Texas Tech. The Blue Devils are the weak favorite to defeat Arkansas on Saturday in the West Region title game.
Only four times before this season, Duke and North Carolina have made the Elite Eight in the same year. It wasn’t until 1991 that they both made it to the Final Four.
While Cinderella doesn’t often have four- and five-star recruits and doesn’t wear North Carolina on her chest, the Tar Heels’ Final Four win would have been hard to predict back in mid-February. This is the team that lost five games by 17 or more points and lost nine at home to unfortunate Pittsburgh on February 16 in a dream.
The story goes on
After North Carolina’s several previous losses, Hubert Davis said, “It was like, ‘I love you guys.’ After the stunning spectacle in Pittsburgh, Davis said, “Guys, come here.”
The next day, Davis reinforced his message with a movie screening showing 20 consecutive clips of North Carolina defense failures. Immediately afterwards, the Tar Heels produced what Davis called his best workout of the season.
“After training, I said: “Why are you guys playing so hard against each other and not against an opponent?” Davis said. “For some reason it seemed to resonate with them.”
To put it mildly.
According to Bart Torvik’s performance rating, after the loss to Pittsburgh, North Carolina was the fourth-best team in the country. The Tar Heels entered Friday winning eight of nine, including a victory over Duke to ruin Mike Krzyszewska’s retirement party, their demolition of Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and their overtime victory over defending national champion Baylor two days later.
Going into Friday’s game, UCLA proved to be one of the toughest opponents North Carolina faced during its late-season surge. The Bruins brought back virtually their entire roster from last season when they moved from the Top Four to the Final Four and then took the undefeated Gonzaga to overtime in an instant classic game.
While UCLA was in the lead for most of Friday’s game, the Bruins were killed by two factors: a lingering right ankle injury to Jaime Jaques and an inability to stop North Carolina’s high pick-and-roll.
Time and time again the Tar Heels used the high ball to get either Love or R. J. Davis into a profitable match against the big UCLA man. Love, in particular, took advantage of these inconsistencies, often driving past Cody Riley or rising up and shooting from deep if given too much space.
“Coach Davis just wanted me to attack the basket,” Love said. He feels like I’m the best as I walk down the hill. I had a few downtimes and then the outside kick started to drop.”
While Jules Bernard had 16 points and Tiger Campbell had 15 points and 6 assists, the Bruins needed more than their assistant could give them to get through Love’s deadly second half. Jacques played valiantly with an ankle injury, which he re-injured against St. Mary’s, but finished with just 10 points on 5-of-18 shots.
Jaques missed a couple of last-minute shots as UCLA tried to respond to Love’s heroism. After the last one, North Carolina can celebrate another big win and look ahead, first to St. Peters and then maybe to Duke.