Ding Dong the Witch is Dead
Those were the words that filled the land of Oz after Dorothy’s house fell on top of the Wicked Witch of the East. On April 2, 2022 the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans played the role of the magical world of Oz, and North Carolina Tar Heel fans all over the world were able to take to the streets and rejoice knowing that at last, the wicked witch of Durham had finally been vanquished.
There’s no secret as to why Mike Krzyzewski decided to announce in the summer that this season would be his last as head coach at Duke. He wanted a retirement tour, he wanted to be showered with praise and adoration at every school he went to coach at. ESPN even cut away from a Big 12 contest that went into overtime so they could broadcast the pregame ceremonies at Cameron Indoor Stadium before Krzyzewski’s last home game. The opponent for Duke that game was North Carolina, who Duke had beat handily in K’s last visit to Chapel Hill, 87–67. But the Tar Heels played spoiler and went into Cameron Indoor and left Coach K and all Duke fans with a sour taste in their mouth as the Tar Heels beat the Blue Devils 94–81. That evened the season series at one game apiece, setting the stage for the ultimate rubber match in the Final Four down in New Orleans.
Duke and North Carolina, the most intense rivalry in all of college basketball, were meeting in the NCAA Tournament for the first time ever. A trip to the National Championship was on the line. Would the Coach K retirement tour roll on or would North Carolina get to put the nail in their bitter rivals’ coffin? It was a tightly contested, back-and-forth affair. Stud freshman Paolo Banchero, who finished the game with 20 points, hit a three-point shot with 1:32 left in the first half to give Duke a six-point lead, however, RJ Davis responded with a jumper and the Duke lead was only 37–34 at the end of the first half.
Early in the second half an Armando Bacot turnover led to a fast-break dunk for Banchero and Duke held a seven-point lead. It felt as if this was the point where Duke would go on a run, as they had in their previous tournament games, and jump out to a comfortable lead. But star guard Caleb Love of North Carolina responded by hitting two straight three-pointers to cut the lead to one. Carolina held a seven-point advantage at one point, but Duke fought back and both teams refused to let the other land a knockout punch. With 1:44 left in the game, Brady Manek nailed a three to give the Tar Heels a 73–71 advantage. The very next possession for Duke saw them get an offensive rebound, leading to a Wendell Moore Jr. three ball that put the Blue Devils back in front 74–73. Davis hit two free throws and then Duke failed to score on their next possession. Ahead by one with 24.8 seconds left, Love delivered the proverbial dagger for North Carolina, a three pointer to go ahead by four. The Tar Heels would go on to win the game 81–77 and secure a spot in Monday’s title game.
There is no middle ground when it comes to Mike Krzyzewski. You either love him or hate him. Krzyzewski had been the head men’s basketball coach at Duke since 1980 and transformed a private university in Durham, North Carolina into a national powerhouse. There is no denying Krzyzewski has the accolades to be considered one of the top coaches in all of sports, not just college basketball. Over 1,000 career victories, five national championships, 13 Final Fours, to go along with winning the ACC tournament championship 15 times. When you win as much as he has, inevitably people will get tired of you. With every Duke victory in the tournament, Coach K detractors felt their hearts sink lower and lower, thinking to themselves, “Is he really going to get the storybook ending?”. But the Tar Heels played spoiler, and college basketball fans everywhere could rejoice. Mike Krzyzewski lost his final game. Ding dong.
