Paolo Banchero, No. 4 Duke Upset by UNC 94-81 in Mike Krzyzewski's Final Home Game

Mike Krzyzewski's home coaching career is over—just not in the way anyone in Cameron Indoor Stadium hoped.

Armando Bacot, Brady Manek, R.J. Davis and Caleb Love each scored 20-plus points as North Carolina turned in a dominant second-half effort to upset No. 4 Duke 94-81 in Coach K's final home game as Blue Devils head coach.

Krzyzewski, who is retiring after the 2021-22 season, was honored before the game with a lengthy ceremony that featured nearly 100 former Duke players. NBA commissioner Adam Silver, comedian Jerry Seinfeld and several other comedians were in attendance for the rivalry game. 

When the game finally got underway, it was clear the nerves of the moment were getting to Coach K's team. North Carolina opened on an 11-4 run before Krzyzewski was able to settle his team during a timeout. 

The Blue Devils raced back into the game and led by as many as nine before going into the half ahead by two. 

Duke maintained a steady lead for the first 10 minutes of the second half, but North Carolina's offense was simply overwhelming down the stretch. After Bacot dealt with foul trouble in the first half, Tar Heels coach Hubert Davis essentially abandoned his bench in the second half. 

North Carolina relentlessly attacked a porous Duke defense with a series of high pick and rolls, with Davis leading the way on the attack, Bacot cleaning up underneath and Manek ready to stroke the occasional open three.

The Tar Heels scored 55 second-half points, 21 of which came in the final 5:12.

Duke star Paolo Banchero finished with 23 points, five rebounds and five assists but struggled with his efficiency, taking 26 shots. 

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Duke Needs Work to Win Championship

It's hard—OK, impossible—to draw any hard conclusions from a night like tonight.

The emotions of a historic moment like Coach K's final game are exhausting. Players desperately wanted to win that game. You could feel the frantic energy from the tip. Countless Duke legends—and, in some cases, your idols—are in attendance. More celebrities than the players have ever seen in one place are there. 

And it's their biggest rival.

It was the perfect recipe for a letdown. 

That said, there were some clear areas Coach K needs his team to work on if he wants to end his career cutting down the nets.

The Duke defense was abysmal for most of the night, particularly in pick-and-roll coverage. It didn't matter whether it was Davis or Love, both guards got the switches they wanted and went to work without any real resistance from the Blue Devils. Bad crashes on help defense led to Manek, one of the best shooters in the country, standing wide-open for a series of threes on the wing and at the corner. 

Banchero had one of his worst games on both ends of the floor, the type of performance that will make some scouts question his NBA star potential. He was caught flat-footed several times defensively, got blown by in pick-and-roll coverage and hoisted a series of questionable shots on the other end.

The offensive onus placed on Banchero, caused by Duke's lack of elite guard play, could be a major issue in the tournament. 

Coach K called the performance "unacceptable" after the game, and he was not exaggerating—particularly for a team with title aspirations.

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Hubert Davis Rounding into Form as Coach

North Carolina is one of the most prestigious college basketball coaching jobs in the country—if not the most prestigious.

Hiring Davis felt like a move beneath the program's standing nationwide. The Heels could have handpicked Roy Williams' successor from an almost endless list of candidates and wound up with Davis—a decade-long assistant who was well-regarded but didn't have offers banging on his door. It felt akin to the Bill Guthridge hire after Dean Smith's retirement.

After losses in the first two major tests of his head-coaching career (against Tennessee and Purdue), the critics were ready to start crowing. 

They're pretty silent right about now.

North Carolina finished its ACC regular season tied for second in the conference with Notre Dame and with a victory over its fiercest rival. Davis has relied increasingly on his starters to pick up the slack from a weak bench, keeping his first five on the floor throughout the second half Saturday.

It this a championship contender? Probably not.

But Davis has rounded his team into form at the perfect time with five straight wins, showing the Heels could make a run into the second weekend while playing with the nation's best on any given night.