Without Cooper Flagg, Duke got everything it could handle from North Carolina — and an unexpected gift that proved decisive in a 74-71 win.

The prevailing mantra in the aftermath of UNC's emotional loss to Duke: The Tar Heels had done enough to lose long before a costly lane violation with 4.1 seconds left, and yet this was still a team more than deserving of a spot in the NCAA tournament.

After missing the first free throw, he made the second but it was ruled no good after Jae'Lyn Withers committed a lane violation. Duke then sank two free throws to take the 74-71 win and sweeping all three games this season.

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.

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.

CHARLOTTE - Kon Knueppel scored 17 points and No. 1 Duke, playing without star freshman Cooper Flagg, held on after building a 24-point lead, beating North Carolina 74-71 in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals on Friday night. North Carolina botched a late free-throw situation that could have given it the lead.

Ahead of Duke 's Friday night contest against North Carolina, the Blue Devils were officially confirmed to be without superstar Cooper Flagg. The 18-year-old freshman injured his ankle earlier this week against Georgia Tech. "Cooper's made good progress, but he's just not there yet," coach Jon Scheyer