A BIG HEEL YEAH FOR NC
Carolina makes Ducks Ore-gone, returns to final
THROUGHOUT its run to the Final Four, Oregon overcame the loss of Chris Boucher, the team’s 6-10 senior forward and best rim protector who tore his ACL in the Pac12 tournament. The Ducks received elevated performances from role players. They played tenacious defense. And against all odds, they proved themselves as a top-four team in the country, even without one of their most important players.
On Saturday night in Arizona, Boucher’s absence caught up to No. 3 seed Oregon, which was dominated inside in a 7776 loss to No. 1 seed North Carolina in the national semifinal.
The Tar Heels will face No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the championship Monday night. The Zags defeated No. 7-seed South Carolina in the other Final Four matchup Saturday at University of Phoenix Stadium. North Carolina lost to Villanova in the title game last season.
“It’s an amazing thing,” UNC coach Roy Williams said of retuning to the national championship. “351 teams start playing and this is the second year in a row we were one of two left.” The win wasn’t without some drama. The Ducks cut the deficit to one point with 5.8 seconds remaining after a layup from Keith Smith. Kennedy Meeks then missed two free throws before North Carolina corralled the offensive rebound. Oregon fouled again, this time Joel Berry, who also missed two free throws. But Meeks grabbed a second offensive rebound for the Tar Heels, passing it to a teammate as the clock expired.
“We needed to get a rebound there,” Oregon coach Dana Altman told CBS after the game. “We had our opportunity.”
Meeks led all scorers with 25 points on 11 of 13 shooting. He also snagged 14 rebounds, including eight offensive boards. Oregon had no answer for the North Carolina senior and provided little resistance. Many of Meeks’ buckets came on wideopen layups after offensive rebounds or dump-offs from teammates. “Coach told us it was going to be a man’s game,” Meeks said. “I took it upon myself to try to do the best I could.”
Justin Jackson, North Carolina’s leading scorer, added 22 points and hit four of his nine three-point attempts. Berry finished with 11 points while playing on two sprained ankles. He shot just 2 for 14.
UNC played stingy defense for 40 minutes, clogging the lane with its size and athleticism. Ducks junior Dillon Brooks shot just 2 of 11, often flailing as he attempted to attack the rim. He totaled five turnovers in the loss and fouled out with 1:32 left in regulation. Tyler Dorsey, who scored 27 points in Oregon’s Elite Eight victory over No. 1-seed Kansas, finished 3 of 11 from the field.
Dillon Ennis (18 points on 7 of 19 shooting) was the only Duck to have any consistent success. Oregon shot 37.9% from the field and connected on just 7 of 26 threes (26.9%). The game started off sloppy, with a slew of turnovers and missed dunks in the opening moments. Eventually the players settled down, and Oregon built an eight-point lead with four minutes remaining in the first half, rattling off a 6-0 run capped by Ennis’ corner three.
But the Heels punched back, outscoring the Ducks by 11 points over the final 4:07 of the period to take a three-point lead into the break. Oregon committed 12 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of play and 16 for the game. Meeks keyed the late Tar Heels run with four points in the final two minutes of the half. The senior scored 14 first-half points on 6 of 7 shooting while also grabbing five rebounds.
North Carolina maintained its physical inside presence after halftime and opened up a 10-point lead with eight minutes left in regulation. The Ducks battled to keep within striking distance and nearly had a chance to win the game in the closing seconds — if not for Meeks on the glass.
“He controlled everything inside,” Williams said of Meeks. “I thought he was just sensational.”