We all that take pride in the term Tobacco Road has come use to winning. The 77 year history of the NCAA basketball tournament the Triangle has had a team in the final game 23 times. Duke 11, Carolina 10 and State twice. After last Monday night the three are 12-11 in championship games.
I know this week talk sport radio has been full of Carolina fans whining about the officiating in the game. Pulling for the Tar Heels I would like to point out that the first two Carolina offensive trips up the court traveling was not called against Berry the first two times he handled the ball. Yes the officiating was terrible. The game would have been better letting the players call their own fouls like on the play ground.
Every game there are bad calls and this game was no exception. However I don't think one team had the advantage over the other because the calls were evenly bad on both sides. It wasn't one sided giving one team advantage over the other. I hate any game where touch fouls are called on the outside and fouls don't get called on the inside until blood flows. This is where it hurt Carolina more. The Tar Heels softness on the inside showed up and many turnovers occurred on the ball being lost inside of five feet from the basket.
Why has this game lingered this week as a tough loss over the other ten times Duke and Carolina have lost in the championship game. The reason is this is the first time ever that a Triangle team loss at the buzzer. We are always the ones that win late.
Carolina lost in 1946 by three but the game was already decided before the last few seconds. 1964 Duke lost to UCLA 98-83 which was long decided by games end. UCLA whipped Carolina in 68' by 23 78-55. Marquette beat the Heels 67-59 in 1978. Duke in 78' lost by 6 to Kentucky but you might remember the Wildcats emptied the bench but had to put the starters back in during a Duke comeback.
1981 Indiana clipped the Heels by 63-50. Louisville in 1986 won by 69-66 but it not a last second win. 1990 saw Duke lose by the biggest margin in finals history 103-73. Arkansas beat Duke 96-92 in 1994 which they wrapped up in the last minute. 99' U Conn best Duke 77-74. Not one of those losses occurred as the clock expired.
Carolina won in 1957 on foul shots in triple overtime. State knew the last five minutes they were going to beat Marquette in 74'. Carolina got the Michael Jordan shot and a Georgetown turnover to win in 82. State beat highly favored Houston on a dunk at the buzzer which was voted the best sporting moment of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated. Duke's back to back titles in 91' and 92 were by seven over Kansas 72-65 and 92-72 over Michigan.
So far During the 21st century has been all wins for the locals. Duke by 10 over Arizona 82-72 in 01'. Carolina by 5 over Illinois 75-70 in 05. 09' saw a ten point Carolina win over Michigan State. 2010 saw the Devils survive a mid court shot hit the rim but they survived Butler 61-59. Duke took Wisconson by five in 2015 68-63.
Five straight times Duke and Carolina have won the big game. Other games in Triangle wins it has always been the Tobacco Road teams winning in the close one in the end. The pain of this one is our team lost at the buzzer. We are so use to winning in the end the script didn't end right. The pain of someone doing to us what we always doing to them. Marcus Paige's rebound score in the middle of the trees and his unbelievable three with five seconds left was suppose to lead to an overtime win not a dagger in the heart.
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I think what is frustrating is reportedly the NCAA did not have its best officiating crew working the championship game. There were a bunch of no names and at times looked confused and lost. Additionally the officiating worked to the favor of Villanova game plan to slow the game down and keep Carolina out of transition. UNC should have recognized Villanova's game plan to slow the pace and they should have done more trapping to speed up the game. When they started they were 10 points down but quickly made up the difference. Fortunately Carolina's outside guards carried them but the inside game was non-existent. The Bigs were UNC's advantage but they did not take advantage of it. Yes credit Villanova but again the officiating and pace worked to Villanova advantage.
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