USA TODAY International Edition
Carolina vs KU in battle royale
Tar Heels close door on Coach K, Duke; Self guides Jayhawks into title contest
No. 1 Kansas beat No. 2 Villanova 8165 behind a share- the- wealth offensive approach that wobbled one of the top defenses in the country.
But that was just the undercard to the main event: No. 2 Duke and No. 8 North Carolina in the first meeting between the two rivals in men’s NCAA Tournament history. In an instant classic, the Tar Heels pulled off an 81- 77 win that will echo in the history of this series and college basketball at large.
If not the happiest way for him to go out – losing to UNC is a particularly cruel touch – that the final game of Mike Krzyzewski’s tenure will go down in history is a fitting way to conclude a historic coaching career.
Duke, Krzyzewski and UNC lead the winners and losers from the Final Four.
WINNERS
North Carolina: UNC gets the last laugh against Krzyzewski, and here’s guessing a few thousand of the faithful were laughing until the early morning Sunday in New Orleans. The Tar Heels were led by guard Caleb Love, who started slow but ended with 28 points; he’s passed the 20- point mark three times in tournament play. UNC also drew another outstanding game from forward Armando Bacot, who scored 11 points and pulled down 21 rebounds.
Hubert Davis: Once 12- 6 overall and mired in an ugly start to ACC play, the Tar Heels have lost three times since and are a win from a memorable national championship. With little fanfare, Davis has made all the right moves in the second half of his first season and remained composed as a starting five rallied to become one of the best units in the country. With some top- ranked recruiting classes on the way, Davis has taken the mantle from his predecessor, Roy Williams, and put UNC back near the top of the sport.
Kansas: The Jayhawks flipped a switch at halftime of the Elite Eight
against Miami and have not looked back. Once down by a handful against the Hurricanes, Kansas dominated the second half and then carried that into Saturday’s win to reach the national championship game for the third time under coach Bill Self. Led by David McCormack’s game- high 25 points, KU had four players in double figures and tore threw a Villanova defense that ranked among the nation’s best. The Jayhawks shot 53.7% from the field and 54.2% from 3- point range ( 13 of 24).
Bill Self: How’s this for a possible scene: Self, who has spent the past three seasons with his program under investigation for alleged recruiting violations, accepting the national championship from NCAA President Mark Emmert. This possible awkwardness aside, with KU reaching the championship game for the first time since 2012 and the favorite to win it all for the first time since 2008, this tournament run has served as a reminder of Self ’s place among the top coaches in the country.
Ochai Agbaji: The senior has rebounded from his quietest game of the year in the Jayhawks’ win against Providence in the Sweet 16 with back- to- back impactful performances. He may have scored a season- low five points against the Friars – he did chip in four blocks and two steals – but Agbaji dropped 18 points against Miami and then was on fire against the Wildcats, with 21 points on 6 of 7 shooting from 3- point range.
LOSERS
Duke: Losing to UNC is a cruel way to end one of the top careers by a coach in the sport’s history. Could it have gone the other way? As in the loss to UNC at home in March, the Blue Devils had opportunities to put the Tar Heels in a hole during the final minutes of the first half and the start of the second. Having failed to do so, the Blue Devils had to be perfect to combat the Tar Heels’ outside shooting and physicality in chasing down second- chance points. Duke was undone by a poor job from deep ( 5 of 22) and misses from the line ( 12 of 20).
Villanova: As expected, the Wildcats sorely missed guard Justin Moore, who suffered an Achilles injury in the final minute of an Elite Eight win against Houston. Villanova was not the same on offense, with less ball movement, less penetration and no player capable of consistently beating the Jayhawks’ backcourt to the basket for easy looks or to kick out to teammates for open jumpers. The way KU scored with ease on the other end speaks for itself; the Wildcats are one team with Moore – a team good enough to go all the way – but another with him on the bench.
Coach K after last Duke game: ‘ I’m sure when I look back I’ll miss it’
Mike Krzyzewski deflected questions about the end of his coaching career following Duke’s loss to North Carolina in the Final Four, opting instead to largely focus on the disappointment his young team was experiencing after one of the memorable games in men’s NCAA Tournament history.
“It’s not about me. Especially not right now,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m not thinking about my career right now. That’s where I’m at. I’m sure at some time I’ll deal with this in my own way. But for right now, we need to deal with our family. We’ve developed a family.
“I’ve said my entire career that I wanted my seasons to end where my teams were either crying tears of joy or tears of sorrow. Because then you know they gave everything.”
Late in his postgame media availability, however, Krzyzewski did briefly touch on his own emotions coming with his final game, saying he was “blessed to be in the arena.”
“I’ll be fine. When you’re in the arena, you’re either going to come out feeling great or you’re going to feel agony. But you’ll always feel great about being in the arena. I’m sure when I look back that I’ll miss it. I won’t be in the arena anymore. But damn, I was in the arena for a long time and these kids made my last time in the arena an amazing one.”
The Blue Devils made an unexpected tournament run after a wobbly regular season, making this last coaching job one of the best of Krzyzewski’s 42 seasons at Duke.
“For these guys, it’s been a joy. They’ve been just a joy for me to coach. They’ve been an amazing group for me. The youngest group I’ve coached.”
One of the most hyped games in Final Four history more than met expectations. Duke’s largest lead was seven points. North Carolina’s largest was six. There were 12 ties and 18 lead changes. UNC led for 16: 22 and Duke for 17: 09.
“I think it reached the level that you would expect, you know,” Krzyzewski said. “Those kids from both teams played their heart out. The crowd was standing most of the game, I think. It was a heck of a game. So I think it met up to that level.”
Shying away from discussing his legacy, he instead touched on the impact of his final team. Thrown out of the national championship conversation as late as early March, the Blue Devils rallied.
“You don’t define a season with one game or one minute of a game,” he said. “You define a season by what’s happened through the whole season. It’s been a heck of a year for us. How these guys turned it around after we didn’t play well in our last four regular- season ( games) was really one of the best things that’s happened to me as a coach in the past five or six years.”