THE OPENING TIP

• • In the Final Four for the 17th time as a program and record 13th time under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, No. 2-seed Duke faces No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday at Ceasars Superdome in New Orleans.

• • The game tips at approximately 8:49 p.m. ET on TBS with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill on the call. On the radio locally, David Shumate and John Roth call the action on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.

• • Coach K’s 13th Final Four appearance breaks a tie with John Wooden for most trips by a head coach in NCAA history. Krzyzewski is 9-3 in national semifinal games. Duke is 11-5 in the semifinals overall.

• • Under Coach K, Duke leads the series with North Carolina, 50-47, but the Tar Heels lead the overall series, 142-115.

• • Although two of the most of the successful NCAA Tournament teams with a combined 248 wins and 11 titles, Duke and Carolina are meeting for the first time in the NCAA Tournament. They have met 23 times in the ACC Tournament, with Duke leading 14-9 (10-4 under Coach K).

• • Duke won the West Regional, defeating two of the nation’s best defensive teams — Texas Tech and Arkansas — averaging 78.0 points and shooting .533 from the field in its two wins in San Francisco.

• • The Blue Devils own the best winning percentage in NCAA Tournament history at .756 (118-38), while the program’s 118 wins rank third and five championships are fourth most.

• • Only five programs have more tournament wins than Coach K’s 101: UNC (130), Kentucky (129), Duke (118), Kansas (113) and UCLA (108).

• • A second-team consensus All-American and the ACC Freshman of the Year, Paolo Banchero is the program’s 75th All-American (52nd under Coach K). He is the 31st consensus pick under Coach K.

• Banchero, the MOP of the West Region, is leading the team in scoring (18.5) and assists (3.8), while averaging 7.0 rebounds and shooting .510 from the field and .533 from…