Flagg-less Duke holds off North Carolina thanks to lane violation

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by rival North Carolina to beat its rival for the third time this season, 74-71 on Friday night to reach the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament championship game.

Khaman Maluach added 13 points and nine rebounds, and Sion James had 12 points for the Blue Devils, who played without star Cooper Flagg.

Duke (30-3) will play the winner of the second semifinal between No. 10 Clemson and No. 13 Louisville in the title game.

After North Carolina cut a 24-point, second-half deficit to one, Ven-Allen Lubin had two free throws with 4.1 seconds left to potentially give the Tar Heels (22-13) the lead. But he missed the first and had the second made free throw waved off after teammate Jae-Lyn Withers stepped in the lane too early.

Knueppel made two free throws with 2.8 seconds left and Lubin missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

It’s the first time since 2001-02 that Duke has beaten North Carolina three times in a season. The Blue Devils swept the Tar Heels in the regular season that year and then beat them in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals en route to winning the national championship.

Lubin had 20 points and 10 rebounds for North Carolina.

North Carolina: The Tar Heels simply don’t have the size to match up with the Blue Devils, but showed plenty of heart with the comeback

Duke: The Blue Devils showed they have plenty of punch and more than enough defense despite being without Flagg and top reserve Maliq Brown.

Withers stepping the lane too early was a monumental mistake.

UNC started the second half 15 of 24 from the field.

Duke will play the winner of No. 10 Clemson-No. 13 Louisville winner in the championship. UNC hopes it has done enough to get an NCAA Tournament berth.