By ADAM ZAGORIA
Zion Williamson never got to play a full game against North Carolina during the ACC regular season, but he made the most of his chance in the postseason.
In storybook fashion, the 6-foot-7 Williamson made the winning putback with 30.3 seconds left en route to a 31-point, 11-rebound performance as No. 3 Duke-seeded edged No. 2 North Carolina, 74-73, to advance to the ACC Tournament championship game. Williamson scored 11 of the final 13 points for the Blue Devils, who will face No. 4 Florida State in Saturday’s final after the Seminoles stunned No. 1 Virginia, 69-59, earlier.
In two games since returning from a knee sprain suffered in a Feb. 20 loss to UNC, Williamson has now tallied 60 points and 25 rebounds. He’s the first player with multiple 25-point, 10-rebound games in the ACC Tournament since Tim Duncan in 1997.
“It feels great, we got the win,” Williamson said on ESPN. “Hats off to them, they’re a great team and it was a great game to be a part of.”
Said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski: “Zion, coming off of the injury, to put two games like this together, is, they’re will to win. These two guys [Williamson and R.J. Barrett] have an amazing will to win and it makes us coaches look a lot better.”
“The guy that’s been hurt came back and put on his Superman cape again,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.
Zion Williamson over the last 24+ hours – win over Syracuse and win over UNC.
60 points (on 26-of-32 shooting)
25 rebounds,
6 steals,
3 3-pointers
2 blocks
2 winsAny questions? Kid is the real deal.
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) March 16, 2019
The projected No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, Williamson sat out the regular-season finale at UNC on March 9– the Tar Heels’ second win over Duke this season — and was itching for a chance to play the Tar Heels one more time. He got the matchup and so did everyone in the basketball world.
ZION INCOMING
(via @CBSSports)pic.twitter.com/ffu492kF5X
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 16, 2019
Asked if it means more to beat UNC, he said, “I mean, of course it is a rivalry game, but you got to take it one game at a time and on to the next.”
With Duke trailing 73-72, Williamson drove to the basket and put up a shot in the lane but it didn’t fall. He immediately grabbed his own rebound and put it back in to give Duke the lead.
“That’s just my competitive spirit. I always want to win, so I knew it was coming off,” he said. “I used my second jump and put it back in.”
Zion REFUSED to be denied in crunch time! ❄️@DukeMBB | @ZionW32 pic.twitter.com/7nmAmsYxUp
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 16, 2019
R.J. Barrett missed two foul shots with 12.4 seconds left that would’ve put Duke up by 3, but Coby White missed a contested long jumper and Nassir Little missed a tip.
Duke can now likely clinch a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament with a win over FSU in the ACC final.
“It sounds great,” he said. “I mean, it’s a championship so you gotta prepare for it.”
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