Fans, media react to North Carolina's iconic Final Four victory over Duke
North Carolina defeated Duke 81-77 in an instant classic Final Four matchup on Saturday night.
The Tar Heels trailed by 3 at halftime, but stormed back with an 11-0 run early in the second half. The two teams went back-and-forth numerous times, but it was a Caleb Love 3-pointer with under 30 seconds to go that made the difference.
Love finished with 28 points. Armando Bacot chipped in 11 rebounds and 21 points in what was his 30th double-double of the season.
This result ends Mike Krzyzewski’s legendary career and gives North Carolina fans an iconic victory in the history of their program. He will now turn over the keys to Jon Scheyer, who was named coach-in-waiting last summer.
North Carolina will now advance to play Kansas in the National Championship game on Monday night. UNC is 6-5 all-time in 11 meetings vs. the Jayhawks, with many of those coming in the NCAA Tournament. Kansas has won 3 straight games in this series.
Here’s some of the reaction from North Carolina’s upset win over Duke:
North Carolina beating Coach K in his final home game and then ending his career in the FINAL FOUR is the greatest troll moment in sports rivalry history. This will live forever.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) April 3, 2022
North Carolina has one upped Duke for eternity.
And there is absolutely NOTHING that the Blue Devils will EVER be able to do about it.
The Tar Heels are heading to MONDAY NIGHT.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 3, 2022
North Carolina handed Coach K his first ever loss as Duke’s head coach back in 1980.
It also handed Coach K a loss in his final game at Cameron Indoor.
It also defeated Coach K in his final game as Duke’s head coach.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) April 3, 2022
Lifetime contract for Hubert Davis.
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) April 3, 2022
This is SPOT ON!
Hubert Davis in his first year making this run…EVERY interview deflects the attention and celebrates his kids-his squad. Players see that. Easy guy to pull for-CLASS ACT! https://t.co/swI3ntWplL— Kirk Herbstreit (@KirkHerbstreit) April 3, 2022
The Coach K/Hubert Davis 0.03 second handshake was amazing.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) April 3, 2022
pray for those He's Not bathrooms pic.twitter.com/poHp0kV86W
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 3, 2022
How Caleb Love looking at Coach K pic.twitter.com/xa70mSEG86
— Josiah Johnson (@KingJosiah54) April 3, 2022
Caleb Love has no soul. That was preposterous.
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) April 3, 2022
Raff turned into an actual onion after that Caleb Love shot.
— Brendan Quinn (@BFQuinn) April 3, 2022
Hubert Davis and Caleb Love drink free for life in Chapel Hill. They ruined K's final home game and ended his career in the Final Four. In those two games, Love had 22, 5 and 5, then 28 points in the final 25 minutes and the dagger with 25 seconds left tonight.
UNC legends.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_ATH) April 3, 2022
