Duke survives, beats UNC for third time
Blue Devils build 21-point halftime lead, hang on in final seconds to reach ACC tournament championship
Bob Donnan/USA Today Sports Images
CHARLOTTE – As good as Duke’s first half was, the Blue Devils’ second half was nearly a disaster.
Nearly.
Duke survived North Carolina’s second-half rally to win 74-71 in an ACC tournament semifinal game on Friday night at Spectrum Center.
Duke (30-3) will face the winner of Friday night’s second semifinal, which is between 2-seed Louisville and 3-seed Clemson. Saturday night’s championship game will be an 8:30 p.m. start.
The Blue Devils took a 21-point lead to halftime and it was whittled all the way down to one in the final minute. UNC’s Ven-Allen Lubin had two free throws with 4.1 seconds left when it was a one-point game; he missed the first, and then Jae’Lyn Withers committed a lane violation, nixing the second free throw.
Kon Knueppel, who led Duke with 17 points, made two free throws for a three-point lead. Lubin took a desperation attempt as the buzzer sounded and it clanged off the rim.
Duke, having beaten UNC twice in the regular season, is now 9-0 in ACC tournament games when playing an opponent for the third time that it’s beaten twice already.
Isaiah Evans started in place of ACC player of the year Cooper Flagg; Evans’ second start of the season, both of those coming in the last couple of weeks.
It was Caleb Foster who provided a spark, though. The sophomore guard who’s only a few games removed from a DNP against Wake Forest had six points, three rebounds, two steals and an assist in the first half.
That’s where the Blue Devils were dominant, specifically in the last five minutes.
Duke scored the last 15 points of the first half. That started with Patrick Ngongba II driving — yes, driving — the left side of the lane and finishing a layup. Foster and Khaman Maluach scored four points apiece in that burst and Knueppel had a three-point play.
Maluach had 13 points and nine rebounds, while Ngongba put up a career-best 12 points.
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