Maye hits late jumper to lift North Carolina to Final Four

And so after Berry and athletic trainer Doug Halverson left the Tar Heel bench to return to the locker room, the emotion and the frustration of the moment finally caught up with him. Then Kris Jenkins won the title for Villanova knocking down a 3 as time expired. Their game against Kentucky went down to the wire as UNC’s Luke Maye hit a buzzer beater shot with.3 seconds to go in the game.

“I just can’t believe we lost”, Adebayo said. “That way they can better manage their times, their days, to eliminate any distractions that can prevent them from being prepared for the game itself”. North Carolina advances to their second straight Final Four after losing to Villanova in the title game a year ago. Meanwhile, it’s the first Final Four trip for Gonzaga coach Mark Few, Oregon coach Dana Altman and SC coach Frank Martin.

Let’s start with OR, a team that won the first NCAA tournament in 1939 and hasn’t returned since.

The final two are the ones everyone will remember _ the shot that will be replayed over and over, and reenacted in parks and playgrounds and driveways for weeks and months and maybe years to come.

OR players celebrate with coach Dana Altman after a Midwest Regional final against Kansas in the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 25, 2017, in Kansas City, Mo.

“I came in after the MI game (in Thursday night’s Sweet 16) and we weren’t celebrating”. I’ve watched enough tape all year. Gonzaga knocked off Xavier 83-59 to win the West Regional.

But this was just the fourth time these blue bloods have met in a regional final. “We’re getting our mentality right for that”. “We should be playing it next week”.

Then there’s SC, which held off fellow Southeastern Conference member Florida to guarantee at least one spot in the Final Four for the SEC after three league schools reached the Elite Eight.

“Personally, I didn’t know where this program could go”, Gamecocks sophomore P.J. Dozier said after his team’s 77-70 win over Florida. “We were down seven at halftime to Duke”. The North Carolina coach sure has done his best to make sure his Tar Heels know how to hit game-winning shots.

March Madness ran its course for the most part, as four extremely talented teams have found their way to the Final Four.

The Gamecocks reached their first national semifinals the same season they reached their first Sweet 16, coming in as the seventh seed from the East. “I would have had a dead layup, and I just pitched it back to Luke”. “I’m the luckiest human being in the world”.

The Tar Heels dug in and delivered their most important defensive effort of the season, holding the Wildcats scoreless for more than four minutes.

Normally, North Carolina’s revenge tour would be the story of this Final Four, and perhaps as the week stretches on, it will turn out that way.