Last-shot practice pays with Final Four for North Carolina

North Carolina at 8:49 p.m.

The UNC Tar Heels won over the University of Kentucky, 75 to 73, Sunday in the Elite Eight round of March Madness. Dean Smith won his first national championship and Jordan became a household name.

“We always say if it’s more than six seconds, ‘Attack, ‘ we’re going to attack, we’re not going to call a time-out”, Williams said. “I didn’t care what he was talking about”.

RECORD HAUL: UNC, the South Region’s No. 1 seed, earned a record 20th Final Four berth on Luke Maye’s last-second shot to beat Kentucky 75-73 in Memphis, Tennessee. They play Oregon Saturday in Phoenix.

Coaches for Oregon, South Carolina and Gonzaga concede Roy Williams and his North Carolina players have an advantage when it comes to knowing how to deal with the spotlight during Final Four week.

With that, these Tar Heels can make Jenkins’ shot a footnote rather than the defining moment in their history.

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

If North Carolina turns the tables, it will give the Tar Heels a return trip to the Final Four after their heartbreaking loss to Villanova in the final previous year – on a buzzer-beating 3 by Kris Jenkins.

“I just kind of stepped back and he gave me the ball”, Maye said, “and I just shot it”. “It was a great feeling”.

Fox battled injuries and illness to rank second at 16.7 points — including a career-high 39 as Kentucky beat UCLA in the Sweet 16 to avenge the earlier loss — along with a team-high 165 assists.

Gonzaga opened as a 6 1/2-point favorite against SC in the opening game next Saturday night at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

Kentucky’s final response was a length of the floor inbounds pass by Derek Willis that almost hit the bottom of the scoreboard and landed out of bounds without being touched.

Kentucky coach John Calipari is along for the ride, a joyful journey that has his Wildcats within one game of reaching the Final Four for the third time in the past four years.

Freshman forwards Wenyen Gabriel and Sacha Killeya-Jones seem likely to return along with 7-foot sophomore Isaac Humphries and 6-10 redshirt freshman Tai Wynyard. The Wildcats did well to stay that close, considering that they had four starters on the bench before the half’s end with two fouls apiece. Specifically, guard De’Aaron Fox’s emotions were fully on display as he embraced teammate Bam Adebayo and spoke about how much he loved his teammates, per SEC Country’s Joe Mussatto.

The NCAA Tournament’s appeal is the expected happens, but it’s better when the unexpected happens, too.

Many would consider taking the next day off after such a huge win.

This was just the fourth time these blue bloods have met in a regional final.

Of all four teams left in the tournament, there are only two 1-seeds left: Gonzaga and North Carolina.

On Sunday evening, the Tar Heels faced the Kentucky Wildcats in a rematch of what many considered to be college basketball’s best game of the season.

And this time, they made the last shot.

When the Tar Heels bring their lunch pails this season, they’re a step ahead of everyone in the nation. Williams improved to 9-4 in regional finals overall and 5-3 at North Carolina.

“We don’t know what to expect”, Calipari said Saturday. Berry then rolled his left ankle in the opening 5 minutes.

Willis barely played (116 minutes combined) for his first two years at UK. Paige was Facetiming with Eric Hoots, North Carolina’s director of player development. Kentucky prepares for another batch of freshmen heading to the National Basketball Association.

Here, for your viewing pleasure – or pain – is a video of Kentucky fans at a bar watching and reacting to the final minute of action.