North Carolina was on the heels (no pun intended) of completing a 24-point comeback against top-ranked Duke in the ACC semifinal, but a costly mistake ruined their chances.
Ven-Allen Lubin was at the line with 4.1 seconds to go for a chance to tie the game, and he made his free throw.
However, it was negated by a lane violation.
The refs blew the whistle on Jae’Lyn Withers as Duke, without Cooper Flagg, celebrated. The Blue Devils were able to knock down a pair of free throws, and Lubin missed his three-pointer to send the game to overtime, giving Duke a 74-71 win.
While the violation was clear, many fans were upset with the call.
“You do not call these in those situations man,” said one user on X.
“Look how excited that referee was to enter the play and decide the game on an absolutely meaningless violation. Total disgrace,” added another.
Wrote one more, “as usual the refs doing their thing.”
But a rarity occurred, as many other fans came to the officials’ defense.
“Man if it’s a violation in the first why isn’t it now? And that was clear as day,” one post said.
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“I guess you could just say I kind of mistimed the shot,” Withers said. “I was trying to make sure I crashed hard to secure a rebound in case he did miss.”
But UNC refused to blame the whistle on the loss.
“It was a lot more to blame than a lane violation,” Lubin said. “We made a ton of mistakes throughout the game. We were in that position trying to dig ourselves out of it and come out with a win or get to overtime.”
“We all made mistakes in this game,” RJ Davis said. “I am behind J-Wit. He has our full support, and we would not be in this position without J-Wit. I want him to hold his head high. We all make mistakes in this game. It’s not just on him.”
Head coach Hubert Davis also supported his player.
“Guys, we’re not here without J-Wit,” Davis said.
UNC’s tournament hopes now seem to be over. An ACC title win would have clinched an automatic bid, but the semifinal loss with a sub-par regular season may not be enough.
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