Coach K’s enduring legacy and what’s next for Duke
Mackenzie Salmon and Dan Wolken put Coach K’s enduring legacy into perspective and discuss whether Duke will still be Duke under new head coach Jon Scheyer
US TODAY
NEW ORLEANS – Coach K’s storied career is over.
North Carolina played again against ultimate villain, stunning arch-rival and No. 2 seed Duke, 81-77, at Caesars Superdome on Saturday in front of a crowd of 70,602.
Caleb Love’s dagger three-pointer with 28 seconds left followed by a free throw gave the No. 8 seeded Tar Heels a four-point lead and helped them handle the upset. Trevor Keels’ free throw by 10.4 seconds made it 79-77 before Love (28 points) lost two free throws to cement the win.
UNC (29-9) advanced to the national championship on Monday (9:20 p.m. ET, TBS), meeting Kansas and ending Mike Krzyzewski’s successful career and a chance to win a sixth title. They previously spoiled Coach K’s last home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 5. Krzyzewski is now officially retired and assistant Jon Scheyer is Duke’s new head coach.
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“Coach K is incredible,” said North Carolina coach Hubert Davis. “And this team is the best team we have played so far. And we just happened to do a few more games tonight.”
These games came in an exciting final two minutes. Duke guard Trevor Keels’ three-pointer by 2:05 gave the Blue Devils a 71-70 lead before UNC big-man Brady Manek countered with a three-pointer of his own. A tip-out in the following game resulted in Wendell Moore Jr. losing a three-pointer and giving the Blue Devils a 74-73 advantage. Then, UNC guard RJ Davis’s free throws with 1:01 left made the 75-74 in favor of the Tar Heels, setting up Love’s last-minute heroics. Two missed Mark Williams free throws in the closing minutes proved costly for Duke.
“You don’t define a season with a game or a minute of the game,” said Krzyzewski. “You define a season by what happened throughout the season. It’s been a hell of a year for us.”
Still, the Blue Devils were favorites to win it all. And now North Carolina — behind a passionate freshman coach at Davis — has won on the biggest stage in a rivalry game that has been hailed as the “greatest game in college basketball history” and “the game of the century.”
Davis said throughout the week that he loved it when his team played with emotion. Love took his coach’s advice and passionately pointed at the North Carolina crowd and a pack of ex-Tar Heels players after they scored three points and one lay-up in a row to give UNC a crucial 45-41 advantage early on the second half with 16:21 left. After a poor first-half shootout, UNC beefed up their defense in the second half, particularly in the paint, and stopped settling for outside shots.
“We’re playing for a national championship,” Davis said. “One of the things our team has done well is celebrate a win but then focus on what comes next. I want them to party tonight. This is important.”
The Tar Heels were in the NCAA tournament bubble in early March. Now they are playing in the national title match. Davis decided to put a photo of the Superdome in his players’ lockers at the start of practice in October, and now that belief system has borne fruit. UNC gained their best player, Armando Bacot, who was injured in the final five minutes of the game – leaving the game with an ankle injury before re-entering.
Duke star Paolo Banchero led the Blue Devils by 20 points, but Duke failed to convert on the stretch. They shot just 5-to-22 from beyond the arc and were hampered early on by foul problems. Banker Keels played great for Duke, scoring 19 points from the bench.
“I think we all left it out there and played with joy,” Keels said. “We had fun out there. We came up short, but we certainly had fun out there.”
Follow college basketball reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.