When Duke and UNC meet in the postseason, even the lane violations are bigger, apparently

The Louisville fan gave it away. The one in the expensive seats on the sideline, not far from Luke and Drake Maye. The one clapping furiously along with everyone else, perhaps despite himself.

He was caught up in it, no longer a noncombatant, swept along by the rolling wave of noise, the kind you only get when North Carolina and Duke start throwing off sparks in the ACC Tournament, especially here or in Greensboro.

Nobody can resist the good stuff — and this was the good stuff, if not in the precision of execution then the commitment to drama. The best of college basketball, even without the best player in college basketball. The kind of game that comes down to the single most dramatic play in all of basketball: a lane violation.

In this rivalry, even the lane violations are bigger, apparently.

By the time North Carolina’s shot attempt at the final buzzer bounced away, Duke posted its first three-game sweep of North Carolina since 2002 with a 74-71 win and secured a spot in Saturday’s ACC championship without the services of Cooper Flagg. The Blue Devils, though, certainly looked like they were waiting for him to take over on offense as the Tar Heels whittled a 24-point deficit down to one point by the final minute.

Which was also proof that you didn’t need the star power of Flagg to supercharge this rematch, although the way Duke beat up on North Carolina in the first two meetings, this might not have been as dramatic if Flagg were playing instead of watching, Duke taking no chances with the ankle he sprained on Thursday.

Without the ACC player of the year and without Maliq Brown — a defensive trump card in Duke’s win in Chapel Hill — and with North Carolina potentially playing for its postseason life and Duke trying to feel its way through a Flagg-free world, they played the most dramatic game of this season’s trio, the building overheating as the Tar Heels fought back into it, even the Louisville fans swept up into it.

North Carolina was left completely for dead early in the second half, only to have two chances to tie the score in the final 32 seconds. After a miss, Ven-Allen Lubin made the free throw that would have tied it at 72-72, only for Jae’Lyn Withers to very clearly step into, and quickly out of, the lane while the ball was in the air.

At first, it was hard to figure out why the Blue Devils were celebrating a made North Carolina basket. Then the replay clearly showed Withers’ two-step.

“I’ve never seen anything like that before, especially up one,” Duke guard Kon Knueppel said. “That was very interesting.”

North Carolina still had one more chance to force overtime, with 2.9 seconds to go, but Duke denied the inbound to R.J. Davis, Lubin took the last shot instead and his 3-point attempt bounced long off the rim.

“I think any time you put on this jersey and you’re going against Duke, it’s an opportunity to be part of history,” Davis said. “I’ve been fortunate and grateful enough to play in a lot of games that I’ll cherish and remember for the rest of my life. I just think with this team and this year’s group of guys, I think to be down 20 the first half and then fight our way back all the way down to the minute and a half, I don’t think a rivalry gets better than that.”

While the Tar Heels now can only hope their chances of making the NCAA Tournament didn’t slip away as Withers’ foot slipped across the line, it was also a whirlwind few days for Duke, having to dig deep to beat Georgia Tech on Tuesday as first Brown and then Flagg went out.

For a team that hasn’t faced a ton of game pressure over the past month — after losing at Clemson, Duke won its last eight regular-season games by an average of 29.5 points — the Blue Devils have gotten all they can handle in Charlotte. If they thought Georgia Tech forced them to dig deep, it took everything they had to fend off the Tar Heels.

Without Flagg and Brown, they weren’t able to switch on defense the way they normally do, although they did on the final play to keep the ball away from Davis. And without Flagg, North Carolina was able to switch more, taking away some of the things Duke does routinely on offense.

It became a test of will as much as anything, whether North Carolina could reel Duke all the way in, whether the Blue Devils could put away a game they already thought they had won.

“We don’t want the injuries, that sucks,” Knueppel said. “But having the close games, the close battles down the stretch, that’s great.”

He might not have been as magnanimous had Lubin made the first free throw, or Davis gotten the ball at the end. But for partisans and neutrals alike, this game had everything. Except Flagg. And maybe a pivotal 3-second violation.

It was still enough to leave everyone breathless and spent, even fans who might have thought they were saving their emotions for the late game.

Duke and North Carolina have a habit of doing that.

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This story was originally published March 14, 2025 at 10:39 PM with the headline "When Duke and UNC meet in the postseason, even the lane violations are bigger, apparently."

Luke DeCock

The News & Observer

Luke DeCock is a former journalist for the News & Observer.