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.

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.

SportsLine's model just revealed its college basketball picks for the North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Duke Blue Devils in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday night

"I was not in the room for any of that." Chairman of the NCAA Men's Basketball Selection Committee and UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham explained the process behind the Tar Heels getting into the tournament. pic.twitter.com/vAD7qu4s3F

UNC will be playing in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, heading to Dayton for a First Four matchup against San Diego State. We preview this matchup in-depth.

Duke basketball punched their ticket to the NCAA tournament by winning the ACC Tournament on Saturday, North Carolina had to wait until Selection Sunday to receive their at-large bid. The Blue Devils were named the number one seed in the East Region bracket.