Dominant UNC an Elite force
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Joel Berry II scored 26 points and Justin Jackson added 24 as top-seeded North Carolina moved to the Elite Eight with a 92-80 victory over Butler in the NCAA South Regional last night.
SOUTH REGIONAL
Luke Maye recorded his first career double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, helping fuel a quick start for Carolina (30-7). The Tar Heels never let their lead get under double digits in the second half.
Andrew Chrabascz led the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (259) with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Kelan Martin finished with 16 points for Butler, which struggled shooting early and did not recover.
Carolina, which reached the Elite Eight for the 27th time, will face Kentucky, an 86-75 winner over UCLA. The Tar Heels connected on 54.4 percent of their shots, Butler 43.5.
The Tar Heels broke out of the gate early, building a double-digit lead and really weren’t threatened after halftime, although Butler did get within 10.
North Carolina used early accurate shooting to build a 16-point lead as the Tar Heels connected on 13 of their first 18 shots, including missing only one of seven from outside the arc.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were suffering through a four-minute drought. That helped Carolina build the advantage to 30-14 when Maye connected on a 3-pointer near the midway point of the first half.
While Butler managed to whittle the deficit to single digits on a couple of occasions before halftime, North Carolina would answer with another rally, the last one of the half stretching the Tar Heels lead to 52-32 on its eighth 3-pointer of the half. The lead was 52-36 lead at the break.
Kentucky 86, UCLA 75 — De’Aaron Fox scored a career-high 39 points as the Wildcats (32-5) beat the Bruins (31-5) in a showdown between two of college basketball’s goliaths for a spot in the South Regional final against top-seeded North Carolina.
The only No. 2 seed to advance to the Elite Eight, Kentucky won its 14th straight game. Now the NCAA’s winningest program will play another of basketball’s titans tomorrow with a trip to yet another Final Four on the line.
Third-seeded UCLA still has the most national titles. Yet the Bruins leave their third Sweet 16 under coach Steve Alford short of the Elite Eight.
Malik Monk scored 21 points for Kentucky, and Dominique Hawkins had 11.
This was the fourth time these powerhouses have met in the past three seasons, and UCLA upset then-No. 1 Kentucky in Rupp Arena with a 97-92 win on Dec. 3.
Fox didn’t play his best in that game, taking 20 shots to get 20 points. That wasn’t a problem with Kentucky fans making the FedExForum as comfortable as Lexington. He scored the first eight points for Kentucky and was all over the court forcing turnovers or diving to the floor to force a jump ball.
Fox outplayed UCLA freshman Lonzo Ball, who finished with 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Ball handed out eight assists but also had four turnovers.
After the game, Ball said he had played his final game for the Bruins and was headed for the NBA draft.
TJ Leaf and Isaac Hamilton each had 17 points for UCLA.