Mackenzie Salmon and Dan Wolken put Coach K’s permanent legacy in perspective and discuss whether Duke will still be Duke under new coach Jon Scheyer USA TODAY NEW ORLEANS – Coach K’s historic career is over. North Carolina played the absolute bad guy, the amazing starting opponent and the No. 2 number Duke, 81-77, again in the Final Four on Saturday at the Caesars Superdome in front of a crowd of 70,602 people. Caleb Love’s three-pointer with a dagger in 28 seconds, followed by a free kick, gave the No. 8 top Tar Heels a four-point lead and helped them overcome the upset. Trevor Keels’ free kick with 10.4 seconds left made it 79-77 before Love (28 points) drained a pair of free throws to consolidate the victory. The UNC (29-9) qualified for the national championship on Monday (9:20 pm ET, TBS) to meet Kansas and ended Mike Krzyzewski’s historic career and a chance to win a sixth title. They had previously spoiled Coach K’s last home game at the Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 5. Krzyzewski has now officially retired and assistant Jon Scheyer is Duke’s new coach. “Both teams played their hearts out”: Six highlights from North Carolina and Duke’s classic Final Four Empathy: Coach K’s gift to his players after Duke’s defeat in Final Four: Relieves their pain “Coach K is incredible,” said North Carolina coach Hubert Davis. “And this team is the best team we have ever played. And we happened to play a few more games tonight.” These games were made in an exciting last two minutes. Duke Guards’ three-pointer, Trevor Kills, with 2:05 left, gave the Blue Devils a 71-70 lead, before the great UNC player, Brady Manek, counterattacked with his own three-pointer. A game tip that followed led to Wendell Moore Jr. to clear a three-pointer and give the Blue Devils a 74-73 lead. Then, the free throws of the UNC guard RJ Davis with 1:01 on the left made it 75-74 in favor of the Tar Heels, creating the heroism of Love in the last minute of the match. Two missed free kicks by Mark Williams in the last minutes proved to be costly for Duke. “You do not define a season with a game or a minute of a game,” Krzyzewski said. “You define a season based on what happened throughout the season. It was a good time for us.” However, the Blue Devils were the favorites to win them all. And now North Carolina – behind a passionate first-year coach at Davis – has won the big stage in a rivalry game touted as “the biggest game in college basketball history” and “the game of the century”. Davis said all week that he liked it when his team played with emotion. Love followed his coach’s advice, passionately showing the North Carolina crowd and a team of former Tar Heels players after scoring three points and a lay-up to give UNC a decisive 45-41 lead at the start of the second half. with 16:21 remaining. After a poor shot in the first half, UNC strengthened their defense in the second half, especially in color, and stopped compromising with outside shots. “We are playing for a national championship,” said Davis. “One of the things our team has done well is celebrate a victory, but then put our eyes on what will follow. I want them to celebrate tonight. That’s important.” The Pitch Heels were in the bubble of the NCAA tournament in early March. They are now playing in the national title game. Davis decided to put a photo of the Superdome in his players’ lockers at the start of training in October and now that belief system is working. UNC beat its best player, Armando Bacot, injured in the final five minutes of the match – he left the game with an ankle injury before re-entering. Duke star Paolo Banchero led the Blue Devils by 20 points, but Duke could not close the gap. They shot just 5-to-22 across the arc and struggled with fouls early. The bench player Keels played huge for Duke, scoring 19 points off the bench. “I think we all left it out there and played with joy,” Keels said. “We had fun out there. We did, but we definitely had fun out there.” Follow college reporter Scott Gleeson on Twitter @ScottMGleeson.
