Jae’lyn Withers had heartbreaking reaction to UNC loss after his costly lane violation

Let's start off by saying one single play did not prevent the North Carolina basketball team from moving on to the ACC title game. Right now, there's a lot of focus on UNC's Jae'lyn Withers, as his lane violation against Duke on Friday night cost the Tar Heels big time.

Was it the reason they lost, though? Not at all. Seth Trimble and others have quickly defended Withers for what happened. You've got to feel bad for this kid, especially after all the work he's put in this campaign to help North Carolina try to reach the NCAA Tournament.

As soon as the final whistle went off and UNC's desperation 3-point attempt rimmed off, the ESPN cameras went right to Withers on the bench. He was beyond emotional and in tears. He knows his mental mistake played a role in his team not being able to compete for the hardware on Saturday night:

Jae'Lyn Withers reaction to UNC loss tells story of everything Tar Heels are feeling

Again, you've got to feel bad for Withers. Was it his fault that UNC was down 21 points at halftime and by as much as 24 in the second half? The Tar Heels put together a spirited comeback, but this wasn't a game that was determined by just one mental mistake from Withers.

Say that didn't happen and Ven-Allen Lubin's second free throw counted. How do we know that Duke wouldn't sprint down the floor with the game tied at 72 and walk things off in buzzer-beater fashion? There are too many what ifs at play - maybe there would have been overtime and Duke would have won in the extra session.

Had Lubin made his first free throw, we wouldn't be talking about this either. In the end, however, Duke was able to prevail, posting a heart-stopping 74-71 victory. Tar Heels fans across the planet are down in the dumps, as they're now worried that perhaps this team will miss out on the NCAA Tournament because of the loss to the Blue Devils. If that ends up being the case, which we'll argue it shouldn't be, we can't look back at Withers' lane violation and say that's what kept UNC from dancing.