North Carolina upsets Duke, 81-77, to advance to NCAA Men's Basketball National Championship Game

North Carolina will face No. 1 Kansas on Monday night in New Orleans; tip-off is at 9:20 ET. In Saturday's first Final Four game, the Jayhawks defeated No. 2 Villanova, 81-65.  

Caleb Love led the way for the Tar Heels, scoring a game-high 28 points, including three three-pointers. Love's 28-point effort matches the most points scored in a Final Four game by a North Carolina player since James Worthy posted 28 points in 1982.

Three more North Carolina starters finished in double figures; R.J. Davis had 18 points, Brady Manek scored 14 points, and Armando Bacot finished with 11 points. 

Duke's Paolo Banchero had a team-high 20 points to lead the Blue Devils, while Trevor Keels scored 19 points off the bench in the loss. 

North Carolina and Duke played a tight first half, trading baskets until halftime. The half saw five lead changes, with neither team leading by more than six points ahead of halftime. 

The Blue Devils held a slim three-point advantage at the half, 37-34.  

Duke took a seven-point lead early in the second half, 41-34, before North Carolina went on a run. The Tar Heels held Duke scoreless for more than three minutes, from 18:54 to 15:43, going on a 13-0 run and breaking out to a 47-41 lead. 

Duke would rebound, briefly taking the lead back with just over 12 minutes left in the second half. The two teams continued to be neck-and-neck, with 11 lead changes in the final 12:21 of the game. 

Two Davis free throws for North Carolina with 1:01 to go gave the Tar Heels a 75-74 advantage. After Duke's Mark Williams missed two free throws, Love hit a huge three-pointer to put North Carolina ahead, 78-74 with 28 seconds left. 

Keels was fouled with 11 seconds to go, and Duke trailing 79-76. Keels made the first free throw, but the second attempt missed and was rebounded by Love, who was immediately fouled. Love made two clutch free throws with only eight seconds left to seal the 81-77 victory.

Duke made three more field goals than the Tarheels (30-27); however, they stumbled at the free-throw line and from three-point range. The Blue Devils were held to a 60% free-throw percentage, going just 12-for-20 from the charity stripe. It was the same story from three-point range for Duke, going 5-for-22 for a dismal 22.7% from beyond the arc. 

North Carolina didn't shoot much better from the field (27-for-64), but took advantage of Duke's free-throw and three-point struggles. The Tar Heels shot 38.5% from three (10-for-26) and 70.8% (17-for-24) from the free-throw line. In the end, that was the difference for North Carolina. 

North Carolina advances to the National Championship Game for the first time in five years, when they made back-to-back appearances in 2016 and 2017.