Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)

Gonzaga and North Carolina survive thrilling Final Four finishes and will meet for the NCAA men’s basketball championsh­ip Monday.

North Carolina, Gonzaga claim semifinal doozies

- By Steve Carp Las Vegas Review-Journal Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjour­nal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarpr­j on Twitter.

It will be No. 1 vs. No. 1 to see who is No. 1 in college basketball.

North Carolina, the top seed in the South Regional, used its size and experience to hold off Oregon 77-76 on Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium.

The Tar Heels (32-7) will face Gonzaga on Monday for the national championsh­ip. The Bulldogs (37-1), the top seed in the West, rode the hot hands of Las Vegas prep stars Nigel Williams-Goss and Zach Collins to defeat South Carolina 77-73.

The Tar Heels relied on the broad shoulders of 6-foot10-inch senior forward Kennedy Meeks, who had 25 points and 14 rebounds.

The Ducks (33-6) got within one point in the final six seconds. But Oregon fouled twice, and both times North Carolina missed two foul shots only to grab the offensive rebound each time and deny the Ducks a final shot.

Former Findlay Prep standout Williams-Goss scored 23 points, and former Bishop Gorman star Collins had 14 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots off the bench for Gonzaga.

South Carolina (26-11) trailed by 14 points early in the second half, but used a 16-0 run to take the lead before Gonzaga regained it and held on.

With the Zags clinging to a 75-72 lead, Sindarius Thornwell was fouled with 3.5 seconds to play. He made the first and deliberate­ly missed the second, hoping for a long rebound. But Gonzaga controlled the boards to advance to its first national title game.

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