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It was a perfect finish to a perfect season and a perfect 24th birthday for Sam Geiersbach. No. 1-ranked and No. 1 seed Carolina used a late 4–1 run on its way to a 12–11 victory over Boston College in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins’ Homewood Field to earn the Tar Heels’ third national championship and first since 2016. UNC (22–0) avenged a national semifinal loss last season to Boston College, which won the NCAA title. The Eagles finished 19–4, with three of those losses to the Tar Heels.
CHAPEL HILL — Carolina fans will forever remember Caleb Love’s huge 3-pointer with 25 seconds left in Carolina’s Final Four victory over Duke at the Superdome in New Orleans, and now it’s immortalized in the Carolina Basketball Museum. On the half-court in the main part of the museum, there are markers for the biggest shots in program history. Logically, one was added for Love’s 3-pointer over the outstretched left hand of Blue Devils center Mark Williams. That shot was massive as he scored 28 points in beating Duke 81–77 to end Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s career with a loss.
After North Carolina’s amazing NCAA tournament run, the Tar Heels soared to No. 2 in the final Top 25 coaches poll. The Tar Heels (29–10) lost 72–69 Monday night in the NCAA championship game to Kansas (34–6), which is No. 1 in the final coaches poll.
NEW ORLEANS — Two months after a rare taste of the NCAA bubble, North Carolina came so close to completing an unprecedented run to a national title. Carolina, who went from midseason struggles to playing like one of the best teams in the country, dominated Kansas in the first half but the No. 3-ranked Jayhawks stormed back to win 72–69 on Monday night in the Superdome.
NEW ORLEANS — The tensions, the heart palpitations and anxiety just kept pulsating through fans during the last thrilling final minutes of North Carolina’s historic 81–77 victory over No. 9 Duke on Saturday night at the Superdome at the Final Four in the second national semifinal. In some of the most scintillating final minutes of a game in Carolina basketball history, the lead changed six times in the last 4:36 and the Tar Heels ended the coaching career of Mike Krzyzewski. Read and watch how the final tense minutes played out after the last television timeout.
NEW ORLEANS — To say that Brady Manek’s one-year Carolina basketball experience has wildly exceeded his expectations would be like saying his hair flows a little bit. In four seasons at Oklahoma, he never made it to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. Manek had an overwhelming desire to do that and finally avoid the dreaded No. 8 vs. No. 9 first-round game that ended multiple seasons. The latter didn’t happen. But he’s helped the Tar Heels shoot past the former with a run to the Final Four and Monday night’s 9:20 matchup with a former Big 12 adversary, No. 3-ranked Kansas, in his final college game (TBS).
NEW ORLEANS — In the most historic battle in the history of sports’ greatest rivalry, North Carolina beat Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s last Duke team the way his Blue Devils won so many nights — with lethal outside shooting. With that, the Tar Heels (29-9) and Coach Hubert Davis ushered in a new era in the rivalry. Davis showed that his new brand of Carolina basketball could be a national force for years after the Tar Heels made him only the fifth first-year coach to make the NCAA tournament championship game.
By R.L. Bynum NEW ORLEANS — Carolina again showed no interest in a storybook finish for Coach Mike Krzyzewski. No, … More
NEW ORLEANS — For Carolina to replicate the Tar Heels’ dominance of Duke in the March 5 game in Durham, there is a lot that has to go right. One area that UNC had overwhelming success in that 94–84 victory, which ruined Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final home game, was creating plenty of offense off of high ball screens.
NEW ORLEANS — There are plenty of elements that have North Carolina playing its best basketball of the season, but the savvy decision-making and court leadership from RJ Davis since he became nearly the exclusive ball-handler are at the top of the list. The No. 8-seed Tar Heels have been on point with the 6–0 sophomore running the show.
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