There was no better chance for the North Carolina Tar Heels to defeat the Duke Blue Devils than on Friday night. For the ACC Tournament semifinals, Duke was without star player Cooper Flagg due to an ankle injury suffered in the round prior. With North Carolina trying to make it into the NCAA Tournament, their odds would impove with a win to advance to the finals.
The Tar Heels nearly pulled it off, as they overcame a 45-24 deficit at halftime and pulled within one point to potentially win the game after scoring 47 points in the second half. With just four seconds left, Ven-Allen Lubin stepped up to the free throw line to give the Tar Heels a one point lead if he sunk both attempts. Lubin missed the first attempt. But on the second attempt, it hit nothing but net. There was one problem though, as Jae'Lyn Withers was called for a lane violation foul.
Because of that foul, Lubin's free throw was nullified, and gave Duke possession of the basketball for the final four seconds. With that, Duke won 74-71 to advance to the ACC Championship Game.
"Oh, no. OH, NO."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 15, 2025
Cory Alexander knew it immediately.
UNC's Jae'Lyn Withers commits a critical lane violation foul, offsetting a game-tying free throw from Ven-Allen Lubin. https://t.co/RU2HtBRR9F pic.twitter.com/cU2DDUI499
UNC loses to Duke on brutal Jae'Lyn Withers lane violation foul
You have to feel for Withers, who was overcome with emotion once the victory was secured by Duke. A rare foul called against him and prevented the Tar Heels from forcing overtime.
A win over Duke to advance to the ACC Championship Game would have seriously increased their chances of making it into the NCAA Tournament. Now, they have to hold out hope for Selection Sunday that they end up with one of the final berths.
ESPN's Joe Lunardi brought up after the game that with this loss, North Carolina is now 1-12 against Quad I teams this season. Lunardi also said "At this moment, I would not want to be North Carolina."
All they can do is hold out hope that the fact they are a blue blood team can help them sneak into the playoffs.
As for Duke, they avoided catastrophe, and will now take on the winner of the Clemson vs. Louisville game on Friday night. It will remain to be seen if Flagg will play in the ACC Tournament Final for Duke, or if he will sit.