Duke falls in regular season finale
Duke lost to North Carolina in Coach K's final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
DURHAM, N.C. — Mike Krzyzewski’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium did not go as planned, with North Carolina pulling off the 94-81 upset.
It was a disappointing end to a week that was a constant reflection of the past 42 years. It felt in many ways like a ‘goodbye’ to the legendary head coach. It was inevitable that emotion would penetrate the program in some way. No one avoided that fact leading up to the game — not Krzyzewski, not the players and not the fans.
It was a matter of managing all of that emotion to focus on the task at hand — a rivalry game that no one wearing either shade of blue wants to lose.
The emotion was most evident at the conclusion of the game. There were no tears for losing. No tears of the ‘goodbye’ nature. Instead it was all about a heavy feeling of letting Duke fans down, one in which Krzyzewski expressed as he walked back onto Coach K Court alongside his wife, Mickie, for the celebration of his career that the University prepared.
As he and Mickie walked across the court, Krzyzewski turned to the students and said, “I’m sorry.”
Moments later he picked up the microphone in impromptu fashion and apologized to everyone in the arena, saying that it was “unacceptable.” It was as genuine of a moment as any one has likely witnessed inside Cameron Indoor from Krzyzewski.
He felt he and his team let everyone down. But he vowed to do better with the ACC and NCAA tournaments just around the corner.
“Cameron has been such a very special place for me,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m disappointed I was not able to honor it today at the level it needed to be honored.”
In the end, none of the emotion that surrounded the game, including the lead up, ultimately appeared to be a deciding factor in Duke’s lose to the Tar Heels.
Sure, during the game’s opening minutes it was evident the Blue Devils were a bit hyped up — quite a bit of nervous energy. North Carolina used it to their advantage and established an early lead. In fact, they led by as many as seven points just over four minutes into the game.
Then Duke began to settle down. Jeremy Roach was inserted into the game and after an initial turnover by the sophomore, he began to get things under control for the Blue Devils. Not long after, the game took on a familiar Duke-UNC tone.
It was a back and forth for most of the first half. Duke slowly began to gain confidence and appeared ready to take control. Paolo Banchero was hitting shots and finished the first 20 minutes with 15 points, while Mark Williams was cleaning the glass with nine boards and the likes of Roach and Wendell Moore were beginning to contribute at a solid level before the break.
By the 3:52 mark of the first half, Duke led 37-28.
North Carolina was in a danger zone, as the Blue Devils appeared poised to put them away early and go into the break with a big lead. Unfortunately for Duke, they were unable to capitalize and allowed the Tar Heels to score six straight points in the final 1:03 of the half.
Just like that, it was a two point game at the half.
Those final moments of the first half were a precursor of what was to come in the second half. Duke’s defense was falling apart.
In the final 20 minutes it completely fell apart. North Carolina used screens to get Brady Manek open, who finished the game with five 3-pointers. When he wasn’t hitting, Armando Bacot was finding opportunities at the rim.
RJ Davis and Caleb Love were driving to the basket at will. And Duke did nothing to respond.
“Their guards - we couldn’t keep them in front of us,” Krzyzewski said. “And Bacot has been the player of the year in our conference and he showed that today.
“They should’ve talked a helluva lot more on defense. They didn’t talk at all on defense. That’s why in the second half our defense was just horrible. And it was in front of their bench, so our staff couldn’t help us on defense.”
Ultimately, the lack of talk did them in as they tried to defend the screens. The more the Tar Heels found opportunities, the more you could see the frustration set in for Duke.
Krzyzewski said his team “didn’t play hungry” and it showed in that second half.
For Duke, the emotion did not seem to be the culprit of the loss. North Carolina’s play was certainly the biggest reason, but Duke’s lack of a response in the second half was significant as well.
“I love my team. I hated how today went.”
COACH K POST GAME
On crying at the beginning of the game
“It has been emotional. Before the game you’re thinking and you get a little teary eyed and then you say, ‘whoa, I can’t do that.’ So then you go on the court and then you feel it. When I came out for the game, you’re supposed to be in character — just the music, you start crying. Then the game started and I was crying more about how we were playing.
“I thought I was good. I didn’t coach well, because we played so bad, but I don’t think the emotion hurt that. It’s good to be emotional, especially about good things.
“If you’re crying because of joy, you’re a pretty lucky person.”
On trying to overcome the emotion
“I was just trying to beat my own emotion to make sure I wasn’t coaching me during that time to get over it. When you do (cry), it means a lot. All this stuff means a lot. The clock’s ticking. You know there’s an ending…
“This is not my last game. This is my last game in Cameron. It seemed like it was your last game. That’s another part of it — no it’s not. So many people are saying great things about you, and you’ve got to say it’s not over yet.”