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CHARLOTTE — Short-handed or full strength, it didn’t matter this season.
Duke basketball played rival North Carolina three times and beat the Tar Heels three times, the latest coming in a 74-71 thriller in the semifinals of the 2025 ACC Tournament.
With Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown out because of injuries, Friday’s battle of the blues was billed as the best shot for the Tar Heels (22-13) to take down the top-ranked Blue Devils (30-3). It lived up to the hype.
UNC needed a win to better its odds of making the NCAA Tournament, but Duke looked like the team playing for its postseason hopes as Kon Knueppel and the Blue Devils led by as many as 24 points against their Tobacco Road rivals. The Heels had their chances in the final minute, but Knueppel made some clutch free throws after a miscue by UNC and Duke survived.
Entering Friday night’s game, UNC was included in 72 of 104 bracket projections on Bracket Matrix. USA TODAY and ESPN had the Tar Heels among the last four teams in the field and CBS had them among the first four teams out. With the loss, UNC is in line for a stressful Selection Sunday.
Duke, which completed a 3-0 sweep against UNC for the first time since 2002, will play No. 10 Clemson (27-5) or No. 13 Louisville (26-6) in the ACC Tournament championship game on Saturday (8:30 p.m., ESPN). The Blue Devils will take aim at their 23rd conference tourney crown and their second in three seasons under third-year coach Jon Scheyer.
Knueppel scored 17 points to lead the Blue Devils. Here are observations from Duke’s win against UNC in the ACC Tournament.
UNC had a chance to take the lead in the final five seconds, with Ven-Allen Lubin at the free-throw line with two shots to give the Tar Heels an advantage. After missing the first free throw, Lubin made the second freebie but Jae'Lyn Withers was whistled for a lane violation and the point was taken off the scoreboard. Withers stepped inside the paint on the violation. On the following possession, Knueppel made a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left to make it a three-point game.
UNC made 41.4% of its 3-pointers in its first two wins at the ACC Tournament. In Friday’s game against Duke, the Tar Heels missed 14 of their 17 shots from beyond the arc. Ven-Allen Lubin played at an All-ACC level for a third game in a row, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double. But UNC couldn’t connect enough from long distance to get over the hump. Lubin fired off a 3-point attempt, but the ball bounced off the rim as time expired.
With Flagg and Brown sidelined, Duke needed some of its secondary players to step up their production. Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba provided that in the first half, combining for 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, 2 steals and a block. Six of those points came during a sequence that saw Duke turn a six-point lead into a 21-point advantage by halftime. The Blue Devils scored the final 15 points of the first half, holding the Tar Heels scoreless for the final five minutes. Ngongba finished with a season-high 12 points, including eight in the second half.
Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke basketball survives comeback bid from UNC after lane violation
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Duke basketball played rival North Carolina three times and beat the Tar Heels three times, the latest coming in a 74-71 thriller in the semifinals of the 2025 ACC Tournament.
With Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown out because of injuries, Friday’s battle of the blues was billed as the best shot for the Tar Heels (22-13) to take down the top-ranked Blue Devils (30-3). It lived up to the hype.
UNC needed a win to better its odds of making the NCAA Tournament, but Duke looked like the team playing for its postseason hopes as Kon Knueppel and the Blue Devils led by as many as 24 points against their Tobacco Road rivals. The Heels had their chances in the final minute, but Knueppel made some clutch free throws after a miscue by UNC and Duke survived.
Entering Friday night’s game, UNC was included in 72 of 104 bracket projections on Bracket Matrix. USA TODAY and ESPN had the Tar Heels among the last four teams in the field and CBS had them among the first four teams out. With the loss, UNC is in line for a stressful Selection Sunday.
Duke, which completed a 3-0 sweep against UNC for the first time since 2002, will play No. 10 Clemson (27-5) or No. 13 Louisville (26-6) in the ACC Tournament championship game on Saturday (8:30 p.m., ESPN). The Blue Devils will take aim at their 23rd conference tourney crown and their second in three seasons under third-year coach Jon Scheyer.
Knueppel scored 17 points to lead the Blue Devils. Here are observations from Duke’s win against UNC in the ACC Tournament.
Ven-Allen Lubin made tying free throw, but Jae'Lyn Withers had lane violation
UNC had a chance to take the lead in the final five seconds, with Ven-Allen Lubin at the free-throw line with two shots to give the Tar Heels an advantage. After missing the first free throw, Lubin made the second freebie but Jae'Lyn Withers was whistled for a lane violation and the point was taken off the scoreboard. Withers stepped inside the paint on the violation. On the following possession, Knueppel made a pair of free throws with 3.2 seconds left to make it a three-point game.
UNC basketball's cold 3-point shooting vs Duke
UNC made 41.4% of its 3-pointers in its first two wins at the ACC Tournament. In Friday’s game against Duke, the Tar Heels missed 14 of their 17 shots from beyond the arc. Ven-Allen Lubin played at an All-ACC level for a third game in a row, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double. But UNC couldn’t connect enough from long distance to get over the hump. Lubin fired off a 3-point attempt, but the ball bounced off the rim as time expired.
Patrick Ngongba, Caleb Foster spark Duke basketball’s first-half surge
With Flagg and Brown sidelined, Duke needed some of its secondary players to step up their production. Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba provided that in the first half, combining for 10 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists, 2 steals and a block. Six of those points came during a sequence that saw Duke turn a six-point lead into a 21-point advantage by halftime. The Blue Devils scored the final 15 points of the first half, holding the Tar Heels scoreless for the final five minutes. Ngongba finished with a season-high 12 points, including eight in the second half.
Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke basketball survives comeback bid from UNC after lane violation
Continue reading...
