NEW ORLEANS, LA—March Madness continued as the final four teams fought for a spot in the national championship game at Caesars Superdome on Saturday, April 2. Kansas outlasted Villanova by a score of 81-65. The much-anticipated classic between Duke and North Carolina lived up to all its pregame hype.
In one of the best college basketball games of all time North Carolina with their superstar Caleb Love earned a hard-fought victory over the Blue Devils, 81-77 to earn the other spot in the NCAA Championship Game.
Kansas will face North Carolina on Monday, April 4. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:20 p.m. the game will air on TBS.
Perhaps even more satisfying than earning a spot in the finals for North Carolina is the fact that the Tar Heels beat Duke the final two times they faced one another. A back and forth classic ended with Duke losing. It was the final game for Duke’s Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, after a 42 year career.
He restored pride in a struggling United States basketball program. Krzyzewski led team USA Olympic basketball to three gold medals and an astonishing 88-1 record over the tenure of his coaching for team USA.
Once again, as he did against the UCLA Bruins in the Sweet Sixteen match up, Love dominated in the second half finishing with 28 points. In this stretch, he hit a critical three-pointer with under a minute remaining, stretching their lead to four. Armando Bacot added 11 points and was a beast on the boards grabbing 21 rebounds for UNC in the semifinal. North Carolina is led by first year head coach Hubert Davis, who has the opportunity to lead the Tar Heels to their seventh national championship.
“It was good winning, but we want to bring a championship home and hang up a banner,” said Bacot. “Beating Duke doesn’t give us a banner.”
Earlier in the day, Kansas cruised to an easy victory over Villanova, jumping out to a 10-0 start the Jayhawks never relinquished. The duo of Ochai Agbaji and David McCormack combined for 46 points against the Wildcats.
