By Brian Murphy, WRAL

North Carolina Tar Heels	71
1Duke Blue Devils	74
Final

Charlotte, N.C. — No. 1 Duke, playing without star Cooper Flagg, held off North Carolina’s furious second-half rally, winning 74-71 to advance to the ACC Tournament championship game and, perhaps, end the Tar Heels’ NCAA Tournament hopes.

The Blue Devils led by as many as 24 points in the second half, but the fifth-seeded Tar Heels cut it to 72-71 in the final seconds of their semifinal game Friday night in Charlotte.

A lane violation by North Carolina’s Jae’Lyn Withers wiped away the game-tying free throw by Ven-Allen Lubin with 4.1 seconds left.

Duke’s Kon Knueppel made two free throws with three seconds left, and North Carolina’s final 3-point attempt by Lubin hit the rim but missed.

“We made one more winning play than they did to get the win,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “But a ton of respect for them. We knew this would be a heck of a game, and couldn’t be more proud of our team.”

Flagg, the ACC Player of the Year, didn’t play after injuring his left ankle in a quarterfinal victory over Georgia Tech. He will not play in Saturday’s championship game, Scheyer said.

“He can’t play,” Scheyer said. “But our goal is to have him ready for the [NCAA] tournament.”

Duke was also without Maliq Brown, a key reserve and defensive standout, who injured his shoulder Thursday.

Duke (30-3) takes on the winner of No. 2 Louisville in Saturday’s title game. The Blue Devils also won the regular-season title. Clemson handed Duke its only ACC loss of the season.

Duke led 45-24 at halftime against the Tar Heels after ending the first half on a 15-0 run. The Blue Devils extended the edge to 24 early in the second half before the Tar Heels staged their rally.

Without Flagg and Brown, the Blue Devils turned to their other talented freshmen. Maluach and reserve big man Patrick Ngongba combined for 25 points on a seemingly endless procession of lobs from Duke’s guards.

“When the big guy steps up, I’m throwing it up there to him,” said Knueppel, who had a team-high three assists.

Without Flagg, who is often the fulcrum of the Blue Devils’ offense, Duke had to turn to others to initiate. And North Carolina could use its best defenders, Trimble and Drake Powell, to harass others without the threat of Flagg on the ocurt. It took some adjusting by the Blue Devils.

“Cooper makes so many plays for us,” Scheyer said. “His ability to break down defenders, and teams don’t usually want to switch him. So what happened tonight, they’re switching everything, they did a great job jamming us, and they’re athletic, man.”

The Tar Heels (22-13) are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble and needed a win over Duke to help boost their resume. Instead, they will have to wait until Sunday to learn their NCAA Tournament fate. UNC won eight of its last 10 games with both losses to Duke.

“We are an NCAA Tournament team and, when we get in there, we’re going to make some noise,” said guard RJ Davis, who had eight points. The Tar Heels could not get him the ball on the final possession.

Lubin led UNC with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Elliot Cadeau had 15 points, made all three of his 3-point attempts, and had a team-high five assists.

“A loss that bad, down 20, could have done who knows what to our hopes in the tournament,” UNC’s Seth Trimble said. “We knew what was at stake. We fought.”

ACC Tournament schedule and results

First round

Tuesday, March 11

Game 1: No. 12 Notre Dame 55, No. 13 Pitt 54

Game 2: No. 15 Cal 82, No. 10 Virginia Tech 73 (2OT)

Game 3: No. 14 Syracuse 66, No. 11 Florida State 62

Second round

Wednesday, March 12

Game 4: No. 8 Georgia Tech 66, No. 9 Virginia 60

Game 5: No. 5 North Carolina 76, No. 12 Notre Dame 56

Game 6: No. 7 Stanford 78, No. 15 Cal 73

Game 7: No. 6 SMU 73, No. 11 Syracuse 53

Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 13

Game 8: No. 1 Duke 78, No. 8 Georgia Tech 70

Game 9: No. 5 North Carolina 68, No. 4 Wake Forest 59

Game 10: No. 2 Louisville 75, No. 7 Stanford 73

Game 11: No. 3 Clemson 57, No. 6 SMU 54

Semifinals

Friday, March 14

Game 12: No. 1 Duke 74, No. 5 North Carolina 71

Game 13: No. 2 Louisville vs. No. 3 Clemson, 9:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Championship

Saturday, March 15

Championship: Game 12 winner vs. Game 13 winner, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Source: wralsportsfan.com