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 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.

The first night of the NCAA Tournament is set to tip off on Tuesday as two of the First Four games will be played in Dayton, Ohio. One of the teams that will play in the

The North Carolina Tar Heels squeaked into the NCAA Tournament, grabbing an 11-seed and a spot in the play-in game against San Diego State. Duke, the winners of the ACC Tournament, received a No. 1 seed in the East Region.

Duke, Auburn and Florida are among the expected top contenders in the 2025 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, which includes a record 14 teams from the Southeastern Conference.