At halftime, the world was simply coming to an end.
The UNC basketball program went into the locker room down by 21 points to a Cooper Flagg-less Duke team, as the Tar Heels appeared to be on the verge of a blowout loss that would certainly ruin their NCAA Tournament hopes.
However, North Carolina fought back, and crazy enough had a chance to win it with four seconds remaining.
Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards, as North Carolina suffered a heartbreaking loss to rival Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
The momentum of the game shifted following an elbow that Jalen Washington took to the face. After a review of the play, it was deemed a "basketball play," just seconds after Washington was called for an absurd technical foul on the other end.
From there, it seemed to take the steam out of North Carolina's sails, as Duke looked like the team who desperately needed a win to save its season.
The Tar Heels battled, dominating the second half in terms of points.
Down by three with under a minute to play, North Carolina forced a big-time stop, one that resulted in Seth Trimble being fouled on the rebound. He drained both free throws, cutting the Duke lead to just one with 32 seconds remaining.
The Tar Heels caught a major break when Tyrese Proctor missed the first of a one-and-one, giving North Carolina a chance to win the game with 21 seconds remaining.
Ven-Allen Lubin got fouled in the post, earning a trip to the line. Down one still, Lubin missed the first free throw attempt, and proceeded to knock down the second.
Unfortunately, it didn't count, as Jae'Lyn Withers got called for a lane violation, giving the Blue Devils the ball back with just over four seconds remaining.
That's all she wrote.
Let's face it: missing free throws and struggling from beyond the three-point line are two things that can't happen, as North Carolina faced both of those issues on Friday night. Elliot Cadeau, who had a great second half, was the only Tar Heel to even knock down a three-pointer in this one, as the team as a whole missed 8 free throw attempts.
That simply can't happen, especially against an elite team.
North Carolina's second half performance was inspiring, but the loss now puts the Tar Heels' fate in the hands of the NCAA Tournament committee.
Give this group credit: they battled. Let's just hope the committee missed the first half for some odd reason.