Roy Williams: Unsure whether UNC will visit Trump, White House

But none of that mattered to North Carolina when the confetti rained down upon its sixth national championship after a 71-65 victory over Gonzaga Monday night.

Each team had 22 fouls but it was the big men who took the brunt of it. “We got good shots and had the ball where we wanted”.

“It was an ugly game”.

Jordan, who was on hand for North Carolina’s title-game loss to Villanova a year ago, told coach Roy Williams that he was too superstitious to attend the big game this time around. It should have been Gonzaga’s ball with about 50 seconds remaining. “I think that’s why when you guys asked us about him, none of us were anxious because we know how tough he is and we know as a team how important getting here and winning this game was. The fouls were a part of it”.

And then there was the officiating crew, deemed by the NCAA as its top three officials in the country. “And I ran by Coach [Roy Williams] and he told me, just use your legs”, Berry said. There’s a very strong possibility that the first two were won with ineligible players and the NCAA has a history of punishing programs rather than individuals. “I hear about other schools, kids go on their mission, they come back and they have to go elsewhere”. Some of them, especially Joel Berry II, named Most Outstanding Player of the 2017 Final Four, played through pain.

Karnowski struggled against North Carolina’s length, missing numerous shots at the rim to finish with nine points on 1-of-8 shooting. Both teams entered into bonus with about 15 minutes to play in the second half as foul trouble abounded. “It was just a physical game”. They were solid against the nation’s best offensive rebounding team, finishing with three fewer than the Tar Heels and a 49-46 advantage overall.

Gonzaga’s numbers were even worse – 20 for 59 for 33.9 percent. We can’t get a delay and say, ‘We’re not ready.’ You’ve got to play.

Justin Jackson has had a fantastic tournament in his senior season.

“In a normal game he may not have done that”. “I don’t think I should be mentioned in the same sentence with him”.

“It’s a very hard game to call. I’m thinking our offense stinks”.

“I’ll read one text message I got last night”, Williams said.

But can we talk about what Deadspin called “a series of inexplicable late referee interventions”?

But, much like their national semifinal win over OR, weathering the opponent’s storm proved to be more important than just about anything else.

Trump has never responded to Williams’ comment as he sometimes does to negative statements made about him, so there’s no telling whether he will continue the tradition of Presidential visits for championship teams.

The score was tied 11 times and the lead changed 12, with the final change coming with 1:40 to play when Justin Jackson – who hit 44.3 percent of his shots this season as the Tar Heels’ leading scorer but was just 6 of 19 (31.6 percent) Monday – converted a three-point play for a 66-65 edge.