NCAA Final Four: It’s Pacific Northwest vs. the Carolinas

Miracles often stand alone.

Years from now – heck, hours from now – folks will note this game’s stats and wonder how it was ever close.

Fox (one) and Monk (two) made three shots from distance in the final 49 seconds to enable the Wildcats to twist a 70-64 deficit into a 73-73 tie.

The shots like Malik Monk’s three-pointer that tied the game with nine seconds left to play, only to be wiped away by the heroics of Luke Maye as his shot with 0.3 seconds remaining lifted the Tar Heels over United Kingdom in the 75-73 UNC win.

For the Tar Heels, it’s a record 20th trip to the Final Four.

Maye’s shot sailed true with three-tenths of a second remaining. “It was a great feeling”. The betting odds in the game between No.1 North Carolina and No.3 OR indicate there is a decent chance for an upset with the Tar Heels giving the Ducks five points. But with 8 minutes left the Tar Heels Justin Jackson made it 27-19 UNC.

But who knew it’d be this hard? The Wildcats went on a 6-0 run with Derek Willis hitting a long two, Bam Adebayo getting a putback and Bam hit two free throws to give United Kingdom its first lead of the game at 39-38. He did not suffer serious injuries but the program’s superstitious supporters on social media asked aloud if the incident portended doom.

North Carolina survived a scare early in the first half, when Berry appeared to turn his ankle.

“But it’s like that old Southern saying”, Williams said. “He’s out there with both feet not feeling real good”. A Theo Pinson floater and Jackson hit another.

The most anticipated game of the Elite 8 between Kentucky and North Carolina lived up to expectations.

“At the timeout, I didn’t like the look on their face, so I started yelling at them, but I was trying to yell positive messages”, Williams said. The Tar Heels did that.

Unlike the wild 103-100 Kentucky win in December, this was a more physical, more emotional game, but it delivered everything that was expected of it, the unquestioned marquee game of the tournament so far, between what were, in some eyes, the two best teams remaining. The Tar Heels were up 38-33 at the break.

Kentucky stormed back with 3-pointers by De’Aaron Fox, Monk and then Monk again to set up Maye’s dramatic game-winner. “Regardless, UNC stood tall as a team”. It comes with the territory, both for players and reporters. “I was so excited and so happy to, finally, be helping my team”. And we’re not done yet. “We wanted them to go attack”.

Yet, once this season began, Humphries just never really seemed to get going.

The conclusion to the 2015-16 season fed the team’s mission in the offseason.

All because of Luke Maye.

South Carolina’s latest win was their third game of the season against their SEC rivals, the Florida Gators. In fact, you can get the SC vs Florida live stream free by taking advantage of CBS All Access’ free 7-day trial offer! It’s time for the Big Dance. I think we’ve gotten better, they’ve gotten better, so we’ve got to pay attention to our scout and know personnel, but then we’ve just got to come out and play as hard as possible.

The cleaner second half saw UNC open up a nine-point lead but, somehow, this United Kingdom team fought its way back, only to have its dreams shattered by the same sort of last-second shot that ended the ‘Heels season previous year, when they had a national title snatched away from them, four seconds from delirium.