Comeback Comes Up Short As Duke Edges MBB, 74-71, In ACC Semis

Friday, March 14

Charlotte, N.C.

7 PM

North Carolina

22-13,13-7ACC

Duke (Semifinal)

30-3,19-1ACC

North Carolina

Duke

Elliot Cadeau

Photo by: Maggie Hobson

Comeback Comes Up Short As Duke Edges MBB, 74-71, In ACC Semis

March 14, 2025 | Men's Basketball

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By: Matt Bowers

CHARLOTTE, N.C.— Duke built a seemingly insurmountable lead and North Carolina raced back to within a point in the final minute before the Blue Devils outlasted the Tar Heels, 74-71, in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday night at the Spectrum Center.

Duke finished the first half with a 15-0 run to break open a close game and take a 45-24 lead at intermission. Carolina trailed by as many as 24 points at 52-28 with 17:01 remaining but outscored the top-ranked Devils, 47-29, in the second half. The comeback came up just short when UNC trailed by just one in the final four seconds.

"I think if you look at the trajectory of our whole season, the way we dealt with adversity, perseverance, and especially these last couple of weeks, we overcame all of that," RJ Davis said. "You couldn't ask for a better team than that, that goes through that type of adversity, goes through that type of criticism and still perseveres through it all and comes out on top. I think that's a tournament team for you right there, because that's what March is about."

Carolina hit 15 of its first 24 shots in the second half as it sliced into the Blue Devil lead.

Despite the furious comeback, the Blue Devils (30-3) won their 10th game in a row and for the 26th time in their last 27 outings, moving on to Saturday night's ACC final. Carolina fell to 22-13.

"I felt like in the first half they had the better of us, whether it was on the perimeter, in the post," head coach Hubert Davis said. "In the second half I felt like we were more physical. Our competitive fight, we were defending without fouling, we were getting loose balls, we were getting rebounds, we were contesting shots, we were making second and third efforts."

The win was Duke's third over Carolina in 2024-25, marking the first time either team has beaten the other three times in a season since the Blue Devils went 3-0 in the series in 2001-02.

Ven-Allen Lubin led all scorers with a season-high 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting with 10 rebounds, posting his fourth double-double in the last five games. He is the first Tar Heel to have at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in an ACC Tournament game since Armando Bacot had 20 points and 13 rebounds against Notre Dame in the second round on March 10, 2021.

Elliot Cadeau hit all three of Carolina's three-pointers in the game, going 3 for 3 from behind the arc while the rest of the team was 0 for 14. Cadeau finished with 15 points, five assists and three rebounds despite foul trouble.

Kon Knueppel led Duke with 17 points, hitting 3 of 5 three-pointers in 38 minutes. The Devils' Cooper Flagg and Maliq Brown missed the game after suffering injuries in Thursday's quarterfinal win over Notre Dame.

Carolina dropped to 36-19 all-time in the ACC Tournament semifinals and 24-9 in Tournament games played in Charlotte.

How It Happened
First Half
• Carolina started its regular recent lineup of Cadeau, Davis, Drake Powell, Lubin and Jae'Lyn Withers. That lineup is now 7-1 this season.
• Cadeau was whistled for his second foul in the opening four minutes of the game and headed to the bench.
• Duke closed the first half on a 15-0 run to lead, 45-24, at halftime.

Second Half
• UNC shot well to start the second half, hitting 9 of its first 17 attempts in the second half. Duke also shot well after the break, however, hitting 8 of its first 16 to hold the Tar Heels at bay.
• Carolina used a 9-1 run to cut Duke's lead to 10 at 66-56 with 6:12 remaining.
• Cadeau hit his third three-pointer with 5:45 to go, and the Tar Heels hit 6 of 7 shots during a stretch to pull within six at 70-64 after a three-play by Seth Trimble.
• UNC mounted a 12-2 run to pull within a point at 72-71with 32 seconds left after Trimble hit two free throws.
• Duke's Tyrese Proctor missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with 21 seconds to play. Carolina grabbed the rebound, raced downcourt and called timeout while trailing by one.
• Lubin missed the first of two free throw tries with four seconds remaining, then Withers committed a lane violation on Lubin's second attempt.