Carolina, East Regional champions, plays West Regional champion Duke in the second national semifinal, Saturday, April 2, in New Orleans in the Caesars Superdome.
Carolina and Duke are playing for the 258th time but the first time in the NCAA Tournament. The teams have combined for 11 NCAA Tournament titles and are the top two teams by winning percentage in NCAA Tournament history.
The only other postseason game the teams played other than conference tournaments was in 1971, when the Tar Heels defeated the Blue Devils in the NIT semifinals in Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The teams split the regular-season games this season with each winning on the other team’s home court. Duke beat Carolina, 87-67, in the Smith Center on February 5, while the Tar Heels defeated Duke, 94-81, a month later in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
About Duke
- Duke has trailed or been tied in the final five minutes of four postseason wins this season – trailed Syracuse, 79-78, with 3:32 remaining in the ACC quarterfinals, was tied with Miami, 65-65, with five minutes left in the ACC semifinals, trailed Michigan State, 70-65, with five minutes remaining in the NCAA second round and trailed Texas Tech, 68-66, with 3:16 left.
- Duke closed those games on combined runs of 57-22, including scoring the final 10 points of the Syracuse game, out-scoring Michigan State, 20-6, and finishing the Texas Tech game on a 12-5 run.
- The combination of sophomore Jeremy Roach (15 points), junior Wendell Moore Jr. (12), freshman Paolo Banchero (11) and freshman Trevor Keels (10) accounted for nearly 85 percent of Duke’s points in those runs.
- Duke is 39-11 (.780) all-time when playing in domes/football stadiums, and have won eight of its last nine in those venues.
- In the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils have played in domes 35 times (27-8 record).
- Each of Duke’s five national titles have come in domes — 1991 at RCA Dome in Indianapolis, 1992 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, 2001 Metrodome, 2010 and 2015 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
- Duke has played in the city of New Orleans seven times (never in the NCAA Tournament) and is 4-3 in the city, including 1-1 in games played at the Superdome (1980 Sugar Bowl Tournament).
- A second-team consensus All-American and the ACC Freshman of the Year, Paolo Banchero is the program’s 75th All-American (52nd under Coach K). He is the 31st consensus pick under Coach K.
- Banchero, the MOP of the West Region, is leading the team in scoring (18.5) and assists (3.8), while averaging 7.0 rebounds and shooting .510 from the field and .533 from three in the NCAA Tournament.
- Sophomore Mark Williams’ .719 field goal percentage is second on Duke’s single-season list. He would lead the nation, but falls just short of the minimum five field goals per game to qualify (4.9).
- Williams is the nation’s only player shooting .700+ from the field and .700+ free throws (min. 150 FG). Since at least 1992-93, only one other player in college basketball has posted a similar statline.
- Junior Wendell Moore Jr., earned his first career All-ACC honor, landing a spot on the second team after establishing himself as one of the conference’s most complete players this season. He ranks fourth in the league in assists (4.5), 15th in steals (1.39) and fourth in assist/turnover ratio (2.22).
- Sophomore Jeremy Roach earned West Region All-Tournament honors after averaging 12.8 points on .514 shooting with 3.8 assists to help lead Duke to the Final Four. He scored 15 points in back-to-back wins over Michigan State and Texas Tech, with 24 of those combined 30 points coming in the second half.
About UNC
- Carolina has the highest scoring margin (16.5 points), second-largest rebound margin (+12.2), third-most assists per game (19.2) and thirdmost three-pointers (10.0 per game) in the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
- Carolina is 14-1 in New Orleans, including 5-1 in the NCAA Tournament and 4-0 in the Final Four.
- This is Carolina’s first game in the Superdome since the 2001 NCAA Tournament. It is the Tar Heels’ first game in New Orleans since beating Ohio State in the Smoothie King Center in the CBS Sports Classic on 12/23/2017.
- Carolina is 8-1 in the Superdome, including winning the 1982 and 1993 NCAA championships.
- Carolina’s win over 11th-ranked UCLA was the Tar Heels’ fourth as an unranked team over a ranked opponent this season (also beat No. 24 Michigan, No. 4 Duke and No. 4 Baylor). It’s the most wins by an unranked UNC team over ranked opponents since winning four times in 2002-03.
- Carolina is a No. 8 seed for the second year in a row and the fifth time overall (1990, 2000, 2013, 2021, 2022). Eight is the lowest Carolina has ever been seeded in the NCAA Tournament. This is the second time UNC has reached the Final Four as an eight seed (also 2000).
- Armando Bacot leads Carolina in scoring (16.5), rebounding (12.8), field goal percentage (.586) and blocks (63). He also led UNC in those categories last season. No Tar Heel has ever led in those four categories in consecutive seasons and no other Tar Heel has ever reached all four of those numbers in one season.
- Bacot has set UNC single-season records for double-doubles (29) and games with 10 or more rebounds (30). His 20-point/22-rebound performance in the regional final vs. Saint Peter’s was his 29th double-double, which ties Tim Duncan’s single-season ACC record set in 1996-97
- Brady Manek, a 6-9 power forward with exceptional range, has scored 20 or more points in five of the last eight games, including his two highest scoring games as a Tar Heel with 28 against Marquette in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and 26 in round two against Baylor.
- Manek’s 86 points are the most in the Tournament and his 4.0 three-pointers per game are the third most. His 16 three-pointers are the most by any player in the 2022 Tournament and his 30 total field goals rank third.
- Sophomores RJ Davis and Caleb Love have started every game together in the backcourt this season except Senior Night, and are both averaging more than 33 minutes per game.
- Davis and Love have combined for 29.1 points and 7.4 assists per game. A year ago as freshmen, they combined for 18.9 points and 5.5 assists. They have combined for 153 three-pointers and 272 assists.
- Leaky Black is one of four Tar Heels to amass 600 career points, 500 rebounds, 250 assists, 100 steals and 50 blocks. Black was third in voting for ACC Defensive
Player of the Year and earned his first award for the league’s All-Defensive team.
Duke vs UNC
- Duke and Carolina split the regular-season series with each team winning on the opposing home court – Duke, 87-67, on February 5 in Chapel Hill and North Carolina, 94-81, in Durham on March 5.
- Freshman AJ Griffin poured in a career-high 27 points in the Blue Devils’ win, hitting 11-of-17 from the field and 3-of-6 from three. Paolo Banchero and Wendell Moore Jr., each added 13.
- Duke shot .576 from the field and was 9-of-19 from three-point range, opening the second half on a 12-0 run and never looking back en route to a 20-point victory.
- At Cameron Indoor Stadium in the regular-season finale, Carolina had four players each score 20+ points, out-scoring the Blue Devils 55-40 in the second half after Duke led 41-39 at the half.
- The Tar Heels are 27-22 vs. Duke at neutral sites, including 3-3 outside the state of North Carolina (2-1 in New York City and 1-2 in Atlanta).
- Either Carolina or Duke have played in the NCAA Final Four 27 times in the last 42 seasons.
- The Tar Heels and Blue Devils have combined to win 10 national championships in the previous 41 seasons – five by Carolina and five by Duke.
- This season marks the 102nd anniversary of the first Duke-North Carolina game, a 36-25 UNC win in Durham on Jan. 24, 1920.
- Saturday’s game in the Final Four is the 258th all-time meeting, with North Carolina leading the series, 142-115.
- North Carolina is Duke’s most frequently played rival (257 games).
- Duke is 50-47 versus North Carolina under Mike Krzyzewski. Over the last 100 games in the series, Duke leads 51-49.
Game Info
Time: 8:49 p.m. (ET)
TV: TBS (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson)
Stream: NCAA.com
Radio: Blue Devils Sports Network (David Shumate, John Roth), Tar Heel Sports Properties (Jones Angell, Eric Montross, Adam Lucas)
Per Release
Slow Starts Continue to Plague Tar Heels