Holliday: Battle of the Blues comes to Bourbon Street

By Bob Holliday, WRAL Sports contributor

OK, I know the game itself will not be played on Bourbon Street, though the postgame revelry in New Orleans’ famous French Quarter should be something to behold. But in the nearby Superdome UNC and Duke meet for the first time ever in NCAA Tournament competition. (They did once meet in a very forgettable NIT game in 1971.) The two teams will tip a little before 9 p.m., and I wouldn’t be surprised if the clock is pushing midnight before all is settled.

The buzz inside the Superdome will defy description. I’ve covered Final Fours in more than a dozen different venues. The Superdome is the loudest. By far. Part of that is because many fans come to the big arena completely uninhibited after an afternoon of drinking in the Quarter. And then the games themselves bring out the buzz. New Orleans has been privileged to host some of the NCAA’s more memorable contests (Michael Jordan vs. Georgetown anyone?).

This UNC-Duke Semifinal promises to be another of those. As TV analyst Jay Bilas is fond of saying: “Duke-North Carolina always delivers.”

To truly appreciate the magnitude of this game, we need to take a look at where this remarkable series, so evenly matched, has already taken us.

On the Duke side, these games sometimes produce unlikely heroes – like reserve Robbie West who led a 14-12 Duke team to an upset win in 1972 over a UNC squad that ultimately went to the Final Four. Or we could go back to 1968 when a guy named Fred Lind, who almost never played, answered the call from Vic Bubas, piling up 16 points and 9 rebounds as the Blue Devils beat another Tar Heel team headed to the Final Four in triple overtime.

You want recent unlikely heroes? How about Jordan Goldwire at the 2019 ACC Tournament in Charlotte? His defense on UNC star Coby White helped Duke rally from 13 down to beat the Tar Heels after two regular season losses. Or Wendell Moore the following season in Chapel Hill? Then a freshman, Moore re-directed Tre Jones’ air ball into the basket a nanosecond before the final buzzer as Duke celebrated another come from behind win.

On the UNC side, we often see epic performances. Larry Miller, who nearly decided to sign with Duke (imagine how that might have altered the history of this series!) hit 13 of 14 from the floor in the 1967 ACC Championship to give UNC its first ACC title under Dean Smith.

What about the “Great Scott” game in 1969? Duke’s Vic Bubas told me a few years after the fact that at halftime when Duke was up 11, he turned to the Carolina bench and “it looked like they all thought the thing was over. Except Charles Scott. He said give the ball to me and I’ll win the game.” They did. And he did. Scott scored 40 that night in Charlotte, giving Smith his third ACC title.

We could talk about fantastic Chapel Hill swan songs – Phil Ford pouring in 34 points on his senior day in Carmichael, or Sean May scoring 26 points with 24 rebounds in his final appearance in the Smith Center – both of those coming in narrow UNC wins over Duke.

Buzzer beaters are an important part of the series lexicon for Duke, starting with Gene Banks in Mike Krzyzewski’s first season in Durham. Banks walked into the pregame spotlight and threw roses to the crowd; then also occupied the postgame spotlight when his jumper from the corner found the bottom of the net to tie the game. Duke won in overtime that day, against another UNC team that would reach the Final Four.

Jeff Capel’s buzzer beater is the most often seen by fans and certainly the most dramatic: A shot from near midcourt that forced double overtime against, yes, another Tar Heel team bound for the Final Four. That shot was so dramatic many fans forget the Blue Devils actually lost that game. But then again, that was in the season of Krzyzewski’s medical sabbatical, and that team finished 13-18.

Austin Rivers’ buzzer beater was a game winner though. And what a shot! The freshman hit a stepback three over a seven-foot defender to cap a double digit Duke comeback at the Dean Dome. The 2020 miracle in the same building was actually a double buzzer beater. Tre Jones hit a jumper at the buzzer to force OT. And then Moore did his best Lorenzo Charles imitation at the end of OT to bring about a most unlikely Duke victory.

Then again, UNC has literally stolen games from Duke. Go back to 1974 in Cameron. Tie game and Coach Neil McGeachy draws up a sideline out of bounds play with four seconds left. But UNC’s Bobby Jones intercepts Paul Fox’s pass and goes coast to coast for the game winner, his layup falling just before the final horn.

Six weeks later at Carmichael, Duke led by 8 points with 17 seconds to go. UNC began stealing Duke passes and laying the ball in. The Devils also missed free throws. When Walter Davis banked in a 35 footer – and remember there was no three point shot in 1974 – UNC’s comeback was complete. The Heels ultimately won 96-92 in overtime.

Some UNC-Duke memories fall under the category of “Did that really happen?” Like Zion Williamson’s exploding shoe. The freshman phenom left the game with a strained knee after his shoe split open and didn’t play for a couple weeks. Could that have happened in a Duke-Virginia game? Or a Duke-Wake Forest game? I think not.

In 1986, commentator Al McGuire dressed up as a zookeeper for Duke’s senior day game against UNC. Replete with safari hat, bullwhip and chair, McGuire had some fun before tipoff playing lion tamer with some of the Cameron Crazies, whom McGuire termed “the animals in the Cameron zoo.” McGuire’s antics might have been more memorable than the game which Duke won 82-74, sparking a Blue Devil Final Four run.

No doubt the most bizarre game occurred on CBS commentator Jim Spanarkel’s senior night. Dean Smith decided he didn’t want to play against Bill Foster’s zone defense even though Duke won the opening tap and took a 2-0 lead. UNC held the ball trying to bring Duke out of its zone, for, I don’t know, 12 minutes? The Devils didn’t budge. But then UNC’s big man Rich Yonaker decided to put up a shot from the corner. It missed everything. Duke led 7-0 at halftime.

When Yonaker came back after intermission, fans chanted “air ball, air ball” every time he touched the basketball. Yep, that was the night the air ball cheer was born. It comes from this rivalry.

Needless to say, UNC players caught a lot of flak after losing 47-40 at Duke. Carolina certainly harbored what Smith called “the psychological advantage” for the rematch one week later during the ACC Championship in Greensboro. UNC won that game 71-63, capped by Dudley Bradley’s dunk over big Mike Gminski. That moment was captured as a Sports Illustrated cover shot. Redemption. Atonement. Those are common themes in this historic rivalry.

That’s what Duke will be seeking in Saturday night in New Orleans. Last time out, UNC took advantage of a huge, 13-point disparity at the free throw line to win 94-81. That was a forever game: Mike Krzyzewski’s last game as Duke coach in Cameron. Paolo Banchero openly hoped for a rematch with UNC in the ACC Championship, but after Virginia Tech eliminated that possibility the odds of UNC and Duke playing each other again this season seemed quite small; especially with UNC a #8 seed that would have to go through #1 Baylor. But now here we are. Without question it’s the Blue Devils that have the Dean Smith psychological advantage this time.

Maybe this was one last burst of Coach K Karma? A nod by the basketball gods to give the winningest men’s coach in the history of the game an extra final shot against his biggest rival.

On the other hand, we could be seeing “Karolina Karma,” not just the upset wins against Baylor and #4 UCLA, but the site for this Final Four: New Orleans. Think about that! UNC’s record in the Crescent City is nigh on spotless.

First off, UNC has played Tulane, located in the beautiful New Orleans Garden District, some 13 times. The Tar Heels have never lost to the Green Wave. Five of those games were played in New Orleans, either at Devlin Field House or at the Superdome. UNC won the 1971 Sugar Bowl Tournament, played at Loyola Field House, beating St. Joseph’s and Bradley. And then of course UNC won two games apiece in the Superdome at the 1982 and 1993 Final Fours. UNC’s only loss in New Orleans, according to Senior Associate A.D. for Communications Steve Kirschner came in 2001, a second round NCAA loss to Penn State.

Some have expressed surprise that UNC and Duke have never met in the NCAA before. But if you think about it, the two schools are generally top seeds and placed in different brackets. Unless they both roll up four wins, their tournament journeys don’t connect.

The two schools did simultaneously make the Final Four played at the old Hoosier Dome in 1991. Had UNC beaten Kansas with Duke upsetting UNLV, the teams would have played for the National Championship. Duke did its part against the 34-0 Runnin’ Rebels; Brian Davis drew a charge on Greg Anthony for the star point guard’s fifth foul, and Bobby Hurley hit a monster three. But Roy Williams’ Kansas club KO'd Carolina. UNC star Rick Fox couldn’t throw it in the ocean that day, and referee Pete Pavia assessed not one but two technical fouls on Smith, leading to the UNC coach’s ejection late in the game.

And truly, I’m not sure the rivalry could have handled a national championship matchup in 1991. That was just two years removed from what I think was the lowest point in the “Battle of the Blues” since the 1961 brawl between Larry Brown and Art Heyman, who ironically were buddies during their high school days on Long Island.

To me, the 1989 ACC Championship stands alone because the rough stuff was more protracted. Tension between the programs began to build in the first meeting during the regular season. UNC won by 20, but the Tar Heel team and the head coach in particular, were most upset by a Duke student’s sign that said “J.R. can’t Reid.” Dean Smith, who had helped integrate Chapel Hill, was not going to allow a Duke student to denigrate one of his Black players. After the rematch in Chapel Hill, won by Duke, Smith noted in his postgame press conference that his front line of Reid and Scott Williams, had scored higher on the SAT than Duke’s Danny Ferry and Christian Laettner. And this deviation from standard coaching norms regarding privacy infuriated Mike Krzyzewski. The stage was then set for the third meeting between the teams, in Atlanta.

That ACC Championship was the most fiercely fought game I can ever recall. 49 fouls were called. Reid inadvertently opened a cut on Ferry’s face. In the war on the backboards, Williams committed a hard foul against Laettner, preventing a put back but knocking the freshman to the floor. Krzyzewski yelled at Williams. Smith yelled at Krzyzewski. The two coaches had something of a shouting match at mid-court. UNC’s King Rice and Duke’s Phil Henderson got into a shoving match. Reid scored on a rebound basket against Ferry, who hit the deck trying to draw a charge. Reid towered over him and yelled. You get the idea.

UNC won that ACC Championship, but it was Duke that made the trip to the Final Four.

For whatever reason, the two schools have never both won four straight in the NCAA Tournament, except in 1991 and now. Most years, it’s just one team or the other that gets the four-game winning streak.

All this incredible history and yet the game in New Orleans could supersede everything?

There seems to be a good deal of angst in the Triangle about this biggest ever UNC-Duke battle. I get it. I feel it too. But I believe the relationship between the coaches and players is much better now than in 1989. The fan bases? Not so much.

Former Blue Devil star J.J. Redick posted on social media that UNC fans have an inferiority complex and hate Duke worse than Duke fans hate UNC. UNC, an inferiority complex? Never heard that one before. Usually the criticism falls at the other end of the spectrum, arrogance and all that.

But Redick may have a point about the hatred of UNC fans. The vitriol that attended Mike Krzyzewski’s entrance at the Dean Smith Center on Feb. 5 was off-the-charts reprehensible. Through the years I’ve seen some hostility from Duke fans toward Carolina as well. So I have no idea how fans will behave going forward, given a UNC-Duke battle on this much larger stage.

Here’s what we know. This is double or nothing. UNC could end Mike Krzyzewki’s illustrious coaching career, piling his very last coaching defeat on top of that final loss at Cameron. My colleague Joe Giglio refers to this as the “Double Mike Drop.” On the other hand, Duke could ride the Dean Smith psychological advantage to redemption, more than making amends for the bitter loss March 5.

Here’s my question: If the Blue Devils win, will Mike Krzyzewski channel his younger self from 1991 during the postgame celebration? The image from the Hoosier Dome is deeply ingrained in my brain. His players are jumping all over each other after the upset of UNLV in a wild mid-court celebration. Coach K is still practically in the coach’s box with a serious face and both palms pointed to the floor. “Calm down,” was the message, “we haven’t won anything yet.”

Should Duke beat UNC the Blue Devils would again have one more game to play to win the NCAA title. Will Krzyzewski again stand to the side admonishing his team to calm down? Or will the guy who has now won five national championships and is about to ride off into the sunset join the celebration?