Hated Rival North Carolina Tops Duke in Coach K's Final Game

It wasn’t the storybook ending Mike Krzyzewski was hoping for.

Duke’s legendary coach walked off the floor for the final time as the Blue Devils were edged 81-77 by rival North Carolina in this year’s Final Four.

“I’m sure at some time, I’ll deal with this in my own way,” said Krzyzewski, who stated in June that the 2021-22 season would be his farewell tour.

The man simply known as “Coach K” ends his illustrious career with 1202 victories, five National Championships, 13 Final Four appearances, and 15 ACC Tournament titles.

Last night’s loss dropped the 75-year-old to 50-48 all-time against UNC, who also managed to spoil Krzyzewski’s final home game exactly four weeks to the date.

“It’s not about me,” said Coach K. “Especially right now. I’ve said my entire career that I wanted my seasons to end where my team was either crying tears of joy or tears of sorrow. Because then you knew that they gave everything.”

In what was the 258th meeting between the schools, Saturday’s contest was another classic. The game featured 18 lead changes and 12 ties, with neither side leading by more than seven points.

Trailing 75-74 with under 50 seconds remaining, Duke’s center Mark Williams missed two key free throws. UNC took advantage the following possession, as Caleb Love buried a key three-pointer that proved to be the final nail in the coffin.

“I felt like over the last two or three years, North Carolina wasn’t relevant,” said first-year head coach Hubert Davis. “North Carolina should never be irrelevant. It should be front and center with the spotlight on them.”

That will certainly be the case Monday when the Tar Heels seek their seventh National Championship in a matchup with Kansas, who downed Villanova in the night’s first semifinal.

As for Coach K, he heads off into retirement as one of the most beloved and successful college basketball coaches of all time.

“When you’re in the arena, either you’re going to come out feeling great or feel agony, but you always will feel great about being in the arena,” Krzyzewski said. “I was in the arena for a long time, and these kids made my last time in the arena an amazing one.”

FanDuel Sportsbook currently has Kansas as -4.5 favorites on the spread and -188 on the moneyline.

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