Final Four
separated by a scant 11 miles down in Tobacco Road.
The eighth-seeded Tar Heels (29-9), of all teams, pinned the 368th and final loss on the 75-year-old Coach K, exactly four weeks after they ruined the going-away party in his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
That loss hurt. This one stopped the coach's lastgasp, storybook run one win away from a title game and a chance at his sixth championship.
When it was over, after playing through the nipand-tuck stretch run without a timeout, Krzyzewski walked calmly to halfcourt and shook the hand of Carolina coach Hubert Davis.
So, instead of Krzyzewski
going for his sixth title, on Monday, Carolina will try to win its seventh. It will be Davis, Love, who led the Tar Heels with 28 points, and R.J. Davis, who scored 18, going against Kansas, which beat Villanova 81-65 earlier in the undercard.
“Dwelling on the two wins against Duke doesn't help us against Kansas,” Hubert Davis said.
Maybe not, but what a game! It featured 18 lead changes and 12 ties.
It featured another breakout performance from Love,
whose 28 points after an 0-for-4 start were one more than what he put up in the second half last week against UCLA in the Sweet 16.
“It means everything to me,” Love said of his key 3 with 25 seconds left.
At around the 2-minute mark, the teams traded three straight 3s. Wendell Moore Jr.'s 3-pointer with 1:19 left ended the flurry and gave Duke a 74-73 lead. It was the last lead of Krzyzewski's career.
Love made three more free throws down the stretch, and then it was over. Krzyzewski walked off the Superdome floor hand in hand with his wife, Mickie.
“I felt like over the last two or three years, North Carolina wasn't relevant,” Hubert Davis said. “North Carolina should never be irrelevant. It should be front and center with the spotlight on them.”