CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A lane violation cost North Carolina a shot at its biggest win all season — and maybe an NCAA Tournament berth.
After whittling a 24-point, second-half deficit down to a single point with 4.1 seconds left to play, Ven-Allen Lubin stepped to the free-throw line for two shots that could’ve changed the trajectory of UNC’s season. But Lubin missed the first, setting up a pivotal second attempt. As he was about to shoot, graduate forward Jae’Lyn Withers moved too early, negating Lubin’s attempt and giving Duke the ball back.
UNC lost its potential game-tying free throw, and the Blue Devils hung on to win 74-71.
UNC was called for a lane violation on the potential game-tying free throw 😳
Duke won the game to advance to the ACC tournament final. pic.twitter.com/TyaWtF4htu
— ESPN (@espn) March 15, 2025
Duke called its final timeout on its subsequent inbound attempt, but the Blue Devils inbounded the ball to freshman Kon Knueppel with 3.2 seconds left, sending him to the free-throw line with a chance to create some cushion. Knueppel, who led Duke with 17 points, calmly drained both, putting the team ahead by three.
UNC then rifled an inbounds pass down the right side of the court to Seth Trimble, who called timeout with 2.5 seconds left and set up a pivotal final attempt for the Tar Heels.
But when Trimble tried getting the ball in for UNC’s final play, Duke switched its coverage responsibilities to close off the Tar Heels’ gaps. Ultimately, whatever play coach Hubert Davis drew up in his final timeout never materialized, and Lubin was left attempting a fadeaway 3 at the buzzer that fell incomplete.
With the win, Duke — playing its first game all season without National Player of the Year frontrunner Cooper Flagg — advances to the ACC Tournament championship game, where it will play the winner of Clemson versus Louisville.
The Tar Heels will sweat out their Selection Sunday fate to see if the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee — ironically chaired by UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham — grants Davis’ team one of its final at-large berths.
The loss dropped UNC to 1-12 in Quad 1 games this season, with only one win over the expected field (UCLA).
The fact that North Carolina made it a game at all was impressive, especially since the rivals’ respective arrows couldn’t have been pointed in more opposite directions early on. For the Blue Devils, a 15-0 run to end the first half gave them a 21-point cushion — and all the momentum — entering the break. Of course, North Carolina made that possible by going scoreless for the final five minutes before halftime.
When Duke center Khaman Maluach drained a 3 early in the second half with 17:01 left to play — only his third made 3 all season — that gave the Blue Devils a 24-point lead, it seemed like the game was over.
Slowly but surely, though, UNC chipped away at Duke’s lead.
But not how you’d expect. Graduate guard RJ Davis — a First-Team All-American last season and this team’s leading scorer — never put together the sort of supernova scoring effort that so often has propelled the Tar Heels. Instead? It was Lubin, Trimble and Elliot Cadeau, who made all three of UNC’s 3-pointers versus the Blue Devils, leading North Carolina’s second-half surge.
Required reading
(Photo: Chris Carlson/ AP)
