Last-shot practice pays with Final Four for North Carolina

Under the category “PF” on the official box score totals – “personal fouls”, not “power forward” – Kentucky finished Sunday’s NCAA Tournament game with 19 committed and North Carolina with 18.

One team to beat: North Carolina. North Carolina spent several minutes using a backcourt of Nate Britt and Stilman White, a former walk-on. North Carolina’s Justin Jackson was named the ACC Player of the Year, Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Goss was the WCC Player of the Year, Oregon’s Dillon Brooks was the Pac-12 Player of the Year and South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell was the SEC Player of the Year. The Gamecocks are going to the first Final Four in school history after not even making the tournament in each of the previous 10 seasons.

Many college basketball fans and experts had No.1 North Carolina reaching the Final Four in their NCAA bracket predictions, but No.3 OR wasn’t exactly expected to win the Midwest region.

And in the wake of their exciting, last second victory over the Wildcats, the Tar Heels are now the prohibitive favorite to win the 2017 National Championship.

Never before had the NCAA Tournament pitted powerhouse programs that have so dominated March. Maye hit the winning basket that gave North Carolina a 75-73 win.

SC forward Sedee Keita cuts down the net after SC beat Florida 77-70 in the East Regional championship game of the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 26, 2017, in NY. The result was much the same as the others, with North Carolina now 3-1 against Kentucky as the Tar Heels avenged a 103-100 loss on December 17 in Las Vegas.

Roy Williams, 66, could become the second-oldest coach to win a national championship. “It entered my mind, but they got that son-of-a-b in so quick, I couldn’t get anybody to do it”.

“I’ve been there 28 years”, Few said, counting his first nine seasons as an assistant.

When chants of “We want the couch” broke out, well, a couch just had to be sacrificed to the buzzer-beater gods. That result put the Tar Heels in the Final Four for the second consecutive season. They also don’t think it will matter once the games begin. The young Wildcats expected those growing pains but matured to win a third straight Southeastern Conference championship and resemble a national championship contender.

The teams combined for 203 points in a December matchup won by Kentucky, but it was apparent early this game would not measure up to that one in terms of offensive fireworks.

“It’s unbelievable that we were in that game where they practically fouled out my team”, Kentucky coach John Calipari said.

“It’s great to be on the opposite side this time, not to have that feeling”, Berry said.

“It’s been a long time coming”, said OR coach Dana Altman, the 10th man to hold that job since Howard Hobson, who doubled as the school’s baseball coach, led the title team called the Tall Firs eight decades ago. The Tar Heels led 38-33 at halftime and still needed a 12-0 run to take control. De’Aaron Fox made that notion look foolish. “But I know that when Frank Martin stepped foot on campus, you just got this vibe that the ball was rolling”.

North Carolina: Memphis and the South Regional have been very good to the Tar Heels.

Stay on topic – This helps keep the thread focused on the discussion at hand.

“You look at it, and guys stepped up”, Calipari said after Sunday’s loss.

Be Civil – It’s OK to have a difference in opinion but there’s no need to be a jerk.