Coach K’s Duke knocked out by arch-rivals

Mike Krzyzewski’s extraordinary 42-year run as Duke head coach came to an end on Saturday, as North Carolina emerged 81-77 victors in the Final Four.

Of all teams, the arch-rival Tar Heels were the team to deny Coach K a fairytale finish, just a month after they spoiled the party for his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Meanwhile, UNC head coach Hubert Davis became the fifth head coach to make the national title game in his first year.

The closing exchanges made for a thrilling finish, with North Carolina and Duke trading three-pointers and scoring runs in the final five minutes of the game.

Caleb Love’s clutch three and conversion of three free-throws gave North Carolina the ultimate breathing room, and he finished with 28 points. Meanwhile, Brady Manek’s timely buckets for 14 points and Armando Bacot’s 21 rebounds were critical.

Despite the clutch baskets at the end and Paolo Banchero’s double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, Duke were ice cold from beyond the arc, going five-of-22.

UNC will meet Kansas in the national title game on Sunday, after they rolled to an 81-65 victory over Villanova earlier on Saturday.

David McCormack and Ochai Agbaji were pivotal for the Jayhawks, with David McCormack putting up 25 points and nine rebounds, while Agbaji drained six-three pointers to score 21 points.

Playing without injured guard Justin Moore, the Wildcats were not able to find an early rhythm as Kansas shot out the gate, scoring the opening 10 points of the game and building a 19-point buffer at one stage in the first half.

It was an eerie role reversal of the 2018 national semi-final, where Villanova raced to a 22-4 opening lead on their way to a 95-79 win over Kansas and eventually their third national title.

Kansas were shooting far too well to let it happen a second time, however, making 29 of 54 total field goals and going 13-of-24 from the perimeter.