How North Carolina Fans Should Feel About Duke Collapse

With all of that being said, here is why North Carolina fans should be ecstatic about this result on Sunday.

It’s Duke, Tar Heels’ Supporters Don’t Want To See Their Success

While North Carolina has either missed the NCAA Tournament entirely or been eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in three of the last five years, the Blue Devils have been elite since Jon Scheyer took over as the head coach in 2022.

Duke was striving to reach back-to-back Final Fours, which would have been another unpleasant reminder of how far North Carolina has fallen behind its top rival. While the Tar Heels are still lightyears behind the Blue Devils, Sunday's result provides some level of peace for North Carolina fans, who have been forced to watch Duke win game after game.

Duke Also Blew a Second-Half Lead

It's been well-documented that the Tar Heels coughed up a 19-point lead in the second half against VCU, which was the final nail in the coffin for Davis' five-year tenure in Chapel Hill. Similar to North Carolina, the Blue Devils surrendered a 17-point lead in the second half against Connecticut.

At one point, the Huskies were 1-of-18 from three-point range, which led to head coach Dan Hurley being speechless during his postgame press conference when a reporter brought up the glaring statistic. Nevertheless, Duke was in the driver's seat and was well on its way to another Final Four appearance.

Even though the Blue Devils allowed the game to reach an uncomfortable stage, they were still in a position to close out the game in the waning seconds. If Boozer just held onto the ball and forced Connecticut to foul, there is a good chance he seals the game at the free-throw line with two made attempts. Obviously, that was not the case, and North Carolina is not the only blue blood program to blow a substantial double-digit lead in the second half of an NCAA Tournament game this year.