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Jae’Lyn Withers lane violation a mistake ‘you just can’t make,’ Jim Boeheim says
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Jae’Lyn Withers committed a crushing lane violation on what would have been a game-tying free throw for North Carolina with 4.1 seconds remaining.
Instead, Duke pulled out a 74-71 win over their archrival in the ACC semifinals, potentially bursting the Tar Heels’ NCAA Tournament bubble. If the Heels are ultimately left out of the field — at the expense of their hated Tobacco Road foes, at that — it will add to what’s already a gut-wrenching loss.
“He’s going to have to live with that. Nobody’s going to want to live with that, but it’s an effort mistake, you can say that,” ESPN’s Jim Boeheim said. “But in that situation, it’s just one you can’t make, and it cost Carolina an awful lot.”
Adding to the loss was Boise State’s defeat of top-seeded New Mexico in the Mountain West semifinals hours later, leading to a bid-stealing situation according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi: Colorado State, the top-remaining seed in the MW and Boise State’s opponent in Saturday’s conference championship, is now projected as an automatic bid along with New Mexico’s presumed at-large berth. The Tar Heels are one of Lunardi’s Last Four Out.
“(The Tar Heels) dominated the last 10 minutes,” Boeheim said. “It was a great effort spoiled by a mental mistake.”
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
