After that, he found his wife, Mickey, and they walked slowly, sadly, hand in hand, from the Superdome floor. Saturday night’s 81-77 defeat in the national semifinal match between ancient rivals marked the last defeat of Coach K, as well as one of its toughest defeats. And thanks to the tar heels – these tar heels – the 75-year-old coach will have plenty of time to get over it. “I am sure that at some point, I will deal with it in my own way,” said the coach, who had announced before the start of the season that 2021-22 would be his last. Krzyzewski’s remarkable career came to an end after Caleb Love made a key three-pointer and three late free throws to lift the Tar Heels to their thrilling win of the minute. This was the 258th, most important and perhaps, the best meeting between these teams, whose arenas are separated by at least 11 miles down Tobacco Road. The eighth seed Tar Heels (29-9), of all teams, scored the 368th and last defeat to Krzyzewski. Finished with 1202 victories. His life record against North Carolina fell to 50-48. Defeats No. 47 and 48 are those that will forever be appreciated by Carolina fans. They were having fun early Sunday morning on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. This latest victory came just four weeks after the Tar Heels ruined the departure party in Coach K’s last home game at the Cameron Indoor Stadium. This loss hurt. “Unacceptable,” he called it, knowing he still had time to rewrite for one last run in March Madness. They did this series, but the last defeat stopped it all along the way – a harrowing victory less than a title game and an opportunity for its sixth championship. Krzyzewski said he had a locker room full of players crying when he finished. “It’s not for me,” he insisted. “It simply came to our notice then. I have said throughout my career that I wanted my seasons to end where my team either cried with tears of joy or tears of sadness. “Because then you knew they gave everything.” They gave their all throughout the “nip-and-tuck” competition – no team had more than seven leaders – which ended with a stretch from the edge of the position in which Duke played without a timeout. When the last buzz of his career was heard, Krzyzewski shook the hand of Carolina’s first coach, Hubert Davis. Instead of Krzyzewski going for his sixth title on Monday, Carolina will try to win her seventh title. It will be Davis, Love, who led the Tar Heels with 28 points, and RJ Davis, who scored 18, against Kansas, who beat Villanova 81-65 earlier in the undercard. “Staying in the two wins against Duke does not help us against Kansas,” said Hubert Davis, who took over from Roy Williams this season and now brings Carolina to the 12th title race. Maybe not, but what a game – as good as any other, these teams played in an ancient rivalry that so often set conference titles, or at least bragging rights, in a state where basketball is king. Their first meeting in the NCAA tournament, this one, included 18 driver changes and 12 draws. He also showed another performance from Love, whose 28 points after a 0-for-4 start was one more than he scored in the second half of last week’s win over UCLA in Sweet 16. “It means everything to me,” Love said of his key with 3 to 25 seconds left. We had so much to talk about in this classic moment, one that Krzyzewski, dressed in his blue sweater with an “D” embroidered on his chest, watched most of it while perched on a stool on the side above his bench. Duke. At about 2 minutes, the teams exchanged three consecutive 3s. Wendell Moore Jr.’s three-pointer with 1:19 on the left ended the turmoil and gave Duke a 74-73 lead. It was the last step in Krzyzewski’s career. RJ Davis returned with two free throws, then after Duke Will Willmsms’s foul overnight missed a pair from the line, Carolina worked the ball around. Tar Heels goalkeeper Leaky Black made a choice – he does throw a block – to Trevor Keels to free Love, who scored a 3 from close range at the top for a 78-74 lead and something like breathing in this game. Love made three more free throws in the stretch and then finished. Krzyzewski and his wife came off the floor together, as well as after four victories during his record in the 13th Final Four. Near the other bench, Hubert Davis cried again — just like Ol ‘Roy — as he did last weekend when North Carolina hit its ticket to the 21st Final Four record. “I felt for the last two or three years, North Carolina was not relevant,” said Davis, whose biggest victory came a year after Williams announced his retirement. “North Carolina should never be irrelevant. It should be in front and in the center with the spotlight on them “. First-year Paolo Banchero led the Blue Devils by 20 points and his classmate Keels had 19. Another freshman, AJ Griffin, never really stayed, finishing with just six points. Chances are Griffin and Banchero will follow Krzyzewski out the door. They are the latest in his revolving door with the players of “One and Done”, although neither they nor Zion Williamson in 2019 could lead Duke back to the land of promise. North Carolina is back on the brink, playing in its third final since 2016 and looking for its second title since 2017 Win or lose, however, 2022 will always be remembered as the year that North Carolina sent well to Coach K . The joy of one team is the pain of another team. “When you are in the arena, you will either go out great or you will feel anxious, but you will always feel great when you are in the arena,” Krzyzewski said. “I was in the arena for a long time and these guys made my last time in the arena amazing.” FOUL PROBLEM The great player of Carolina, Armando Bacot, finished with his seventh double-double series – 11 points and 21 boards – despite committing a foul in the stretch. Duke’s Williams played the whole game with a foul. Finish with four buckets for eight points – all in the dunk. KNOWN ENEMIES Monday will mark the fourth meeting in the last week of the season between Kansas and North Carolina, but the first in the national final since 1957, before the tournament becomes what it is today. Carolina won the title game in the triple overtime over Wilt Chamberlain and the Jayhawks. The Tar Heels won in 1993 on the way to the title and Kansas reciprocated the favor in 2008 and then also won the championship.
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