North Carolina's furious comeback against Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals came up short after Jae'lyn Withers committed a lane violation on teammate Ven-Allen Lubin's successful second free throw attempt — which had it counted,

North Carolina just blew its shot at the ACC Tournament championship game in perhaps the worst way possible. With just 4.1 seconds left in the semifinal matchup against No. 1 seed Duke on Friday, UNC was called for a lane violation on a potential game-tying free throw.

Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke held off a furious second half rally by 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.

During a timeout with 12:23 left to play in Saturday’s ACC tournament championship game, Duke coach Jon Scheyer leaned back in his black folding chair and took a breath. His Blue Devils had just scored seven straight points,

Duke men's basketball defeated Louisville in the ACC championship game without freshman sensation Cooper Flagg. Highlights from the game.

"I was not in the room for any of that." Chairman of the NCAA Men's Basketball Selection Committee and UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham explained the process behind the Tar Heels getting into the tournament. pic.twitter.com/vAD7qu4s3F

One of the biggest storylines about the Tar Heels making the tournament is that their athletic director, Bubba Cunningham, is the chairperson on the NCAA tournament selection committee. He explained after the bracket was released that he wasn't in the room when the decision was being made and that "all the polices and procedures were followed."

North Carolina was the last team to make the field as a surprise to many who projected the Tar Heels would miss the cut.