By Adam Lucas 1. Duke advances to the ACC Tournament championship game with a 74-71 win over Carolina. The Blue Devils are the first team to win three in a season in this rivalry since the 2001-02 season.
2. Well, there’s never been a finish like that in this series. Carolina came from 18 down with eight minutes left to make it a one-possession game at the end, and had a chance to take the lead with 4.8 seconds left. But Ven-Allen Lubin–who was incredible–missed the first free throw and then made the second one…before it was erased by a lane violation from Jae’Lyn Withers. Withers left the court in tears but the Tar Heels had plenty of other opportunities in the game they could have converted. It’s unfortunate that this will be remembered as the lane violation game when it was very nearly one of the greatest comebacks in UNC history.
3. Carolina battled back with a furious offensive and defensive effort over the final half of the second half. The Tar Heels scored on almost every possession over the final dozen trips and were meanwhile essentially shutting down the Duke offense other than shots within point-blank range of the basket. The Heels were down 18 points with 8:25 remaining and had a chance to win the game at the end.
4. The Heels did a much better job of getting to the line over the furious finish–they attempted 14 free throws during the comeback–while holding Duke to just three attempts before they had to foul in the final seconds. They had to create offense at the line because the Heels were 3-for-17 from three in the game. All three makes were by Elliot Cadeau, who was 3-for-3. His teammates combined to go 0-for-14 from the arc. Ian Jackson had another tough ACC Tournament game, going 0-for-4 from the field and committing two turnovers in his 10 minutes.
5. Duke did a smart job of running at least 30 seconds off the clock in the second half. The Blue Devils are very savvy about not picking up the ball after a made basket until everything is absolutely set with the way they want to inbound the ball. With the game clock running, that enabled them to do it on multiple occasions over the final minutes, and the cumulative effect was to shorten a game where it felt like 30 more seconds might have mattered for Carolina. It’s not against the rules. It’s just a clock management tactic that depends on how the game is managed by the officials.
6. Lubin and Cadeau were the two most outstanding Tar Heels. Lubin hit eight of his 11 shots and also grabbed 10 rebounds, which means he has double-doubles in four of his last five outings. Lubin joins Armando Bacot, John Henson, Mitch Kupchak and Rusty Clark as the only Tar Heels ever to get three double-doubles in one ACC Tournament. Cadeau scored 15 points and had five assists against just one turnover. He was a startling +15 in a game that UNC lost by three points. And don’t forget about Seth Trimble, who went 6-for-9 at the line and made some huge free throws on his way to 14 points. Trimble’s defense–along with Drake Powell–was important during the comeback.
7. That plus-minus stat also highlights one of the big problems in the game: Cadeau’s foul trouble in the first half changed the course of the game. He picked up two fouls in the first 4:05–when he left the game, the Heels were up 5-4. When he came back, Duke had built a six-point lead. The UNC point guard then picked up his third foul later in the first half. His issues combined with Jackson’s ineffectiveness (0-4 from the field and two turnovers in seven first half minutes) required Carolina to play RJ Davis all 20 minutes in the first half, and the toll was showing on Davis. Cadeau’s inability to stay on the floor in the first half and Withers’ error at the end have been part of the storyline for this year’s team, which does sometimes make mental miscues that impact the game. That’s also basketball.
8. Duke just outplayed Carolina in every possible way in the first half. Duke was superior on offense, better on defense and played with more energy and effort. That helped them build a 45-24 lead at the break, the second-biggest halftime deficit the Tar Heels have faced this year. 9. That deficiency was compounded by the fact that the Heels couldn’t generate any offense from the perimeter at all. Carolina shot just 1-for-10 from three-point range and got just five points outside the paint in the first 20 minutes. 10. The first half essentially went like this: Carolina struggled to find an opening and either turned it over (seven times) or took a very difficult, contested shot, which is how it shot 35.7 percent from the field. Duke would then come down and either make a high-percentage shot (it hit 50 percent from the field), shoot an open three-pointer or get fouled. Carolina struggled to defend without fouling, as the Blue Devils hit 11-for-15 from the line. The Devils were just 4-for-7 from the line in the second half, which made a big change in the game. 11. Duke won the rebounding battle, 34-31. Carolina is now 5-9 this season when coming out on the short end on the glass. 12. But somehow, UNC clawed back. Let’s acknowledge right here that Duke was down two key players, and that certainly impacted the game. But the Heels’ effort over the final eight minutes did one of two things depending on what kind of person you are: left you frustrated about the prior 32 minutes, or encouraged you that if there are games to go, the Heels have a chance.
13. Now we wait. Right now, that’s an NCAA Tournament team. Hopefully that outweighs the metrics they put on the board in November, December and January.
