NEW ORLEANS — The name "Tobacco Road" misses the point. The most important industry in the 11-mile stretch of real estate between North Carolina's two cathedrals of hoops, the Smith Center in Chapel Hill and Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, is basketball.
For decades, a win, or loss, in any given matchup between Duke and North Carolina has had the power to shape the next week, or month, or year, for the thousands of fans who wear different shades of blue, and bring two different worldviews to one of the most intense rivalries in sports.
On Saturday came the 258th and most titanic meeting of them all — Blue Devils vs. Tar Heels in the Final Four, the first time that's ever happened. That it's happening in the 47th and final year of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's record-setting career, and that North Carolina put an official end to that career, only added to the tension.
And tension there was on the court in New Orleans. The charged game between the two blue teams remained close. At halftime, only three points separated the Tar Heels and Blue Devils. But as the clock ticked away in the second half, North Carolina punched it in, guaranteeing their spot in the national championship.
That means storied coach Mike Krzyzewski's dance with the Blue Devils came to an end at the hands of the Tar Heels. Caleb Love made a key 3-pointer and three late free throws to lift North Carolina to a thrill-a-minute 81-77 victory over the Blue Devils.
This was the 258th, most consequential and maybe, just maybe, the very best meeting between these teams, whose arenas are separated by a scant 11 miles down in Tobacco Road.
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The Tar Heels (29-9), of all teams, pinned the 368th and final loss on the 75-year-old Coach K, exactly four weeks after they ruined the going-away party in his final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
That loss hurt. This one stopped the coach’s last-gasp, storybook run one win away from a title game and a chance at his sixth championship. When it was over, after playing through the nip-and-tuck stretch run without a timeout, Krzyzewski walked calmly to halfcourt and shook the hand of Carolina's rookie coach, Hubert Davis.
On Monday, Carolina will play Kansas for the title. The Jayhawks beat Villanova 81-65 earlier in the undercard.
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