Jae'Lyn Withers' lane violation one of many mistakes in UNC's loss to Duke

When the final buzzer sounded, Jae’Lyn Withers walked off the court with a towel draped over his head. 

Ty Claude comforted his teammate. Tears began to fall as Withers trekked toward the locker room.

In a moment he could only describe as “disbelief,” the graduate forward cost No. 5 North Carolina an opportunity to tie the game with four seconds left in Friday’s ACC semifinal matchup against top-seeded Duke.

As junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin’s game-tying free throw fell through the net, Withers was whistled for a lane violation that erased the made attempt and prevented UNC from completing a double-digit comeback. It was one of the many mistakes inside the final minutes for North Carolina, which fell, 74-71, to the Blue Devils for the third time this season. 

But it will be Withers’ blunder that bears all of the weight. 

“We all make mistakes,” head coach Hubert Davis said — with his right arm wrapped around Withers outside UNC’s locker room. “I’m an imperfect person, so that qualifies me to be an imperfect coach, and there’s 50,000 mistakes I make every day.” 

Every Tar Heel stuck up for Withers after the game. They all repeated the same statement: it wasn’t because of his gaffe that UNC lost. Instead, it was a series of mistakes. 

“There's a lot of other things that went wrong for us that we could have prevented,” junior guard Seth Trimble said. “It’s not J-Wit’s fault at all. [He] had a bad play at the end of the game but we would not be in that position if it weren’t for Jae’Lyn.” 

UNC’s mistakes came after it chipped away at Duke’s 24-point lead throughout the second half. After a 12-4 scoring run, North Carolina trailed by one point with 32 seconds remaining.

The second-half comeback featured three double-figure performances from sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau, Trimble and Lubin. They did so by attacking the rim and shying away from the 3-point line, where UNC shot a season-low 17 percent on the night. They drew contact in the paint and earned trips to the line. North Carolina shot 18 free throws in the second half. 

But down the stretch, the Tar Heels missed many of those free throws — eight in all and five in the second period. 

“I missed three free throws today,” Trimble said. “It’s something that really happens. RJ missed a 1-and-1 early in the game.” 

Down one, UNC found Lubin in the low post. As the clock ticked under five seconds, he spun to his right hand and drew the fifth foul on Khaman Maluach. 

At the line, his first free throw hit the back iron and rolled off the left side of the rim. The eighth missed free throw of the game. 

He got the ball back and slowed down his routine. 

“[I] was silencing the noise,” Lubin said. “Just trying to focus on me and the rim.” 

He took his time. But it threw Withers off.

Withers jumped the gun. The whistle blew. 

“I mistimed the shot,” Withers said. “I was trying to crash hard to secure the rebound in case he did miss.” 

After Kon Kneuppel made both of his free throws, the Tar Heels got another opportunity to tie the game with just 2.8 seconds remaining. They drew up an inbounds play for RJ Davis, but the graduate guard couldn’t shake a switching Blue Devils defense. So, with no timeouts, Trimble was forced to inbound to Lubin. 

The 6-foot-8 forward had only shot two 3-pointers all season, yet had no choice but to take a turnaround 3-pointer as time expired.

It hit the front of the rim and fell to the floor. 

North Carolina failed to execute by not finding an open guard on the last possession. But before then, missed free throws outlined failed chances at completing the comeback. 

Yet, despite both pitfalls, many will blame Withers’ mistake above all the rest. 

So for that reason, Hubert Davis stood by Withers to reassure him he wasn’t alone. And with an arm around his shoulder, he defended Withers while showing his appreciation. 

“We’re not sitting here in the semifinal playing Duke without [Withers]," Davis said. "He’s just been a huge part of our team and our program and I love him to death.”

@cadeshoemaker23

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