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.

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.

Duke, the No. 1 seed in the East region, is expecting to have star freshman Cooper Flagg for the NCAA Tournament beginning this week.

Cooper Flagg came into the college ranks as one of the most hyped prospects in recent history, and that hype has only intensified throughout the season. With all the attention the Duke freshman has garnered comes plenty of NIL opportunities.