Mike Krzyzewski retires as North Carolina beat Duke in the Final 4 / News - Basketnews.com

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Legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski's career has come to an end. After battling it out until the very end, Coach K's Duke University Blue Devils lost to North Carolina Tar Heels in the NCAA March Madness Final Four matchup 77-81 (37-34, 40-47).

It was a game of runs. North Carolina started off the game well, leading 11-6 after the first 6 minutes of the match. However, Duke go themselves together and were in front 24-20 with 5 minutes to go in the first half.

Italian super-prospect Paolo Banchero made a three-pointer with just over one minute left in the first half to put Duke up by 6, but UNC narrowed the lead, and the teams were separated by only 3 points at the half.

When the second half started, the battle continued. Although Duke got off to a better start, UNC made a run of their own and gained a quick 6-point lead with 15 minutes to go. Led by Banchero, Duke made a quick comeback and regained the lead, but the teams were still tied with 11 minutes to go.

The game of inches continued as the teams were still tied with only 4 minutes left to play. Both Duke and UNC continued to trade baskets. However, with 28 seconds to go, Caleb Love of North Carolina made a huge three-pointer to put his team up by 4.

Duke rallied back, but ultimately it was not enough, and North Carolina advanced to the Final of the NCAA March Madness. They will meet Kansas Jayhawks who beat Villanova Wildcats in the other semifinal.

"Tonight was a battle. It was a game that the winner was going to be joyous, and the loser was going to be in agony," Mike Krzyzewski explained after the match. "That's the type of game we expected. We would've liked to be on the other side of it, but I'm proud of what my guys have done."

"They've been an amazing group for me, the youngest team I've coached," the coach continued. "We had our chances tonight, they made a couple more plays than we did. Our guys played their hearts out."

The legendary coach K did not want to emphasize himself in the post-game press conference.

"It's not about me, especially right now," he said. "As a coach, I'm just concerned about these guys. I mean, they're crying on the court, that's the only thing you can think about. I've said my entire career that I wanted my seasons to end where my team was either crying tears of joy or tears of sorrow because then you knew that they gave everything."

"I had a locker room filled with guys that were crying," Krzyzewski explained the moment. "It's a beautiful sight, it's not the sight that I would want, I want the other, but it's the sight that I really respect and it makes me understand just how good this group was."

"That's what I'm concerned about. I don't want these guys to leave and say 'I should've made that one free throw, I should've made that one'. We win and we lose together, and we've won 32 games and 2 championships together, that's what I want them to realize."

North Carolina handed Coach K his first-ever loss as Duke’s head coach back in 1980. It also handed Coach K a loss in his final game at Cameron Indoor.It also defeated Coach K in his final game as Duke’s head coach.

Did the game reach the levels of an all-time classic? Coach K did not dismiss such a description

"I think it reached the level that you would expect. Those kids from both teams played their hearts out, the crowd was standing most of the game," the coach explained. "It was a heck of the game. It was a bit disjointed, which games like that can be, but I think it met up to that level, and I'm proud of my guys. We had our chances in that last couple minutes, but they're good, they really put a lot of pressure offensively."

"It's been a joy. We got a group, they're young, we've got a chance, I was right about that. They won 32 games, and they turned it around in March. They've been beautiful young men to coach, I couldn't ask for more."

"I think when you have 3 daughters, 10 grandchildren, and you've been through quite a bit, you're used to taking care of the emotions of the people you love and you're responsible for.That's where I am at. I'm sure at some time I'll deal with this in my own way, but right now we need to deal with the family."

"We've developed a family," Krzyzewski continued. "In the last 3 ballgames before this one, these guys made unbelievable plays right after one another to put us in this position.Tonight, we still made some plays, but not enough."

"You don't define a season with one game, or with one minute of a game. You define a season by what's happened throughout the whole season," Krzyzewski talked about his philosophy. "It's been a heck of a year for us. How these guys turned it around when we didn't play well in our last 4 regular-season games."

"It's one of the best things that's happened for me as a coach in the last five-six years. For a young group to really flip the switch and play that level of basketball, at times we played that way tonight. Part of the reason that we were not able to play was because we were playing against a really good team, they also did that."

"You know, I'll be fine. I've been blessed to be in the arena," Coach K explained. "When you're in the arena, you're either going to come out feeling great or you're going to feel agony, but you always will feel great about being in the arena."

"I'm sure that that's the thing when I'll look back that I'll miss. I won't be in the arena anymore, but damn I was in the arena for a long time, and these kids made my last time in the arena an amazing one."

"You take care of the people you love. You take care of the people that have been committed to you and have believed in you, and they check every box," Krzyzewski explained his view. "We're gonna help them get past this, and then move on, because these are all really young guys, they have amazing futures ahead of them, amazing futures ahead of them, and we want to be a part of that, we wanna help them with that."

"Well, if I was in the arena alone, I would always come out in agony," the coach continued. "Whenever I've gone to the arena, I've brought these guys, or the US team, or whatever. As a coach, you're allowed to go to the arena with amazing competitors, people who want to achieve at the highest level."

"If you can teach them to achieve together at the highest level, you come out of there in good shape. That's the beauty of being a coach and having the opportunities that I've had. Coaching them has been an amazing opportunity for me."

"We had two years of COVID, last year 13-11, I believe in these guys, and I should, and they came through. They did not win tonight, but they came through in an unbelievable fashion."

Krzyzewski won a record 1,202 games and five NCAA titles in his 47-year career. With Coach K, Duke advanced to 12 Final Fours in four different decades. They won five national championships in three different decades. Krzyzewski -- who also led USA Basketball to three Olympic Gold Medals in 2008, 2012, and 2016 -- is generally regarded as the best men's college basketball coach of all time, even above John Wooden and his 10 national championships.

North Carolina: Caleb Love 28 (8/10 2PT, 3/10 3PT, 4 REB, 4 TO), R.J. Davis 18 (7 REB, 4 AST), Brady Manek 14 (3/6 3PT, 4 REB, 3 BLK), Armando Bacot 11 (21 REB).

Duke: Paolo Banchero 20 (6/13 2PT, 2/4 3PT, 10 REB, 2 BLK), Trevor Keels 19 (6/7 2PT, 2/7 3PT), Wendell Moore Jr. 10 (8 REB).

Mike Krzyzewski's final press conference:

Full game highlights:

Final 3:32 minutes of the match:

Caleb Love's highlights:

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