Beating Duke in Final 4 was ‘special moment,’ but not UNC’s national championship game
North Carolina’s 81-77 win over Duke in the national semifinal was a game that lived up to its hype.
It was historic in that it was the only time the two programs separated by eight miles ever met in the NCAA tournament.
It was filled with heroic moments like guard Caleb Love scoring 22 of his game-high 28 points in the second half, including a dagger 3-pointer with 24 seconds left to put the Tar Heels up by four.
It was a thrilling battle which sent fans in Chapel Hill to overtake Franklin Street and will fit in near the top of the big games recounted in the rivalry.
The one thing it was not though, was the national championship game.
That comes on Monday night with Kansas, the only No. 1 seed to advance to the Final Four, standing between the Tar Heels and their seventh NCAA title.
For North Carolina coach Hubert Davis, that’s the challenge that began as soon as Saturday’s game ended. The Heels have to move past Duke and focus on the Jayhawks.
“I want them to celebrate (Saturday night), I just do, this is a special moment for them,” Davis said. “This is a special moment for our program. So I want them to enjoy themselves. And so that’s important. But we have more than enough time to prepare for an unbelievable Kansas team. And playing for the national championship, if you’re not motivated for that, you shouldn’t be playing.”
For forward Brady Manek, who transferred from Oklahoma to Carolina specifically for a chance to play in big games, it’s not a difficult transition.
Manek scored 10 of his 14 points in the second half. He was asked about his contributions to the final loss in the storied career of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“I was more on the, ‘I’m going to the national championship,’” Manek said. “I didn’t really think about that. I’m very grateful to be in this position and play Kansas.”
Carolina will be keenly watching the ankle of Armando Bacot. He stepped on Leaky Black’s foot and twisted it with 5:18 left in the game against Duke. Bacot was helped off the floor by teammates, then limped to the end of the bench to be examined by athletic trainer Doug Halverson.
Bacot only missed 42 seconds of game action before checking back in. Although he said he felt “amazing,” “great,” and “better than ever,” it will be crucial to UNC to have him healthy and in the lineup. Bacot recorded his record-setting 30th double-double with 11 points and 21 rebounds. His rebounds set a new record for the most in the program’s Final Four history.
Davis said his ankle would probably be sore on Sunday, but he expects Bacot to play.
“The next 24 to 48 hours in terms of treatment is going to be huge,” Davis said. “But at this time, I don’t think there’s a player that isn’t hurt a little bit. And so having the opportunity to play for the national championship — specifically for Armando not making the tournament his freshman year and losing in the first round last year of the NCAA tournament — I can tell you, I can read that page; he’s going to play on Monday night.”
The Jayhawks stormed into the finals by leading Villanova from start to finish in their 81-65 victory. KU shot 60.9 percent in the second half and made 13 of 24 of its 3-point shots.
The Heels arguably match up better with Kansas than they did against Duke. Carolina really had no answer for Duke’s Paolo Banchero, who scored a team-high 20 points with 10 rebounds. And Trevor Keels was big off the bench for the Blue Devils, chipping in 19 points.
But UNC limited Duke to just 41.7 percent shooting from the floor including 5-for-22 from 3-point range.
It would be a bit disingenuous to say beating the Blue Devils was just another game. But Love reiterated, Carolina’s goal has always been bigger than one opponent. That’s why he said it wouldn’t be hard mentally to get prepared for Kansas.
“Every thing is in the tank, we’re playing for a national championship Monday night,” Love said. “We want to celebrate this win tonight and do what we got to do, but tomorrow we’re back focusing, ready for Kansas.”
It’s always been about the national title. Even when it was hard to envision the Heels reaching the final game of the season when they were getting blown out in back-to-back games at Miami and Wake Forest back in January.
But the Heels are here, with the chance that not many expected, to win a national title with a first-year coach.
“We’re gonna enjoy this, soak this win in, but at the same time, we have a dream to accomplish and that we set,” R.J. Davis said. “So get ready for Monday preparation, but coach Davis wants us to enjoy this because this is something that we all worked hard for all year.”
This story was originally published April 3, 2022 at 8:25 AM with the headline "Beating Duke in Final 4 was ‘special moment,’ but not UNC’s national championship game."