Christian Laettner welcomes Luke Maye to the Kentucky killer brotherhood

It takes a lot for a Blue Devil and a Tar Heel to get along, but dealing Kentucky a devastating tourney loss is always sure to soften relations a little bit.

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At least that was the case for Duke legend Christian Laettner, who saw the remarkable similarities between the shot he made at the end of overtime to beat Kentucky in 1992 and the one that North Carolina sophomore Luke Maye drilled to send Kentucky home on Sunday.

Laettner reached out to college basketball’s newest star on Twitter early Monday morning and even channeled Star Wars to help deliver the message.

Watching Maye drain that shot had to be the worst kind of déjà vu for Kentucky fans. Tuesday marks the 25th anniversary of Laettner’s shot, which is oft-cited as the greatest in college basketball history.

As Laettner notes, both tall, white forwards wore No. 32. But the similarities don’t end there. Both shots came in the Elite Eight round, both featured No. 1 seeds against No. 2-seed Kentucky and both came after clutch shots by Kentucky players (Sean Woods, Malik Monk).

The biggest differences? Kentucky would’ve won had Laettner missed because the Wildcats were up one at the time. Sunday’s game likely would’ve gone to overtime.

Oh, and of course the fact that the men are on opposite sides of a Tobacco Road rivalry that usually puts both at each other’s throats.

Oh, and Luke Maye didn’t stomp anyone earlier in the game.

Laettner was famously the subject of an ESPN 30-for-30 documentary entitled “I Hate Christian Laettner,” a phrase that can be seen on T-shirts sold in Lexington, Ky.

Despite the fact that Maye seems like a pretty likable guy (he’s a former walk-on who attends class at 8 a.m. the day after sending his team to the Final Four), here’s guessing those T-shirt sellers just found a lucrative new revenue stream.