UNC edges Kentucky, earns trip to Final Four

UNC forward answers call with game-winning jumper to beat Kentucky

The North Carolina Tar Heels now are a win away from getting back to a national championship game they narrowly lost a year ago.

And this time, they made the last shot.

Luke Maye hit a jumper with 0.3 seconds left and top-seeded North Carolina held off Kentucky 7573 in Memphis, Tennessee, to earn the Tar Heels’ second straight trip to the Final Four and 20th all-time in Sunday’s showdown of college basketball’s elite in the South Regional.

The Tar Heels (31-7) will play Midwest champ Oregon on Saturday in Glendale, Arizona, in the national semifinal.

“We get to keep playing,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.

North Carolina took control with 12 straight points over the final 5 minutes, a run similar to what it used a week ago to beat Arkansas. The Tar Heels finished this game with a 16-9 run. Kentucky’s freshmen De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk hit three quick 3s, the last two by Monk. Monk’s second shot with 7.2 seconds left and defenders in his face tied it up at 73.

Theo Pinson brought the ball down and passed back to Maye. The sophomore from Huntersville, North Carolina, knocked it down for the win with his feet on the 3-point line.

“I’m the guy that wanted him to come as a walk-on, so how dumb am I?” Williams said. “He (made) some big-time plays today, bigtime plays two days ago.”

Maye finished with 17 points off the bench for North Carolina. Justin Jackson scored 19 points, and Joel Berry II added 11.

The Wildcats had one last chance, but Derek Willis’ inbounds pass went out of bounds on the far end.

Kentucky (32-6) will miss out on the Final Four for the second straight year. Willis and sophomore Isaac Humphries left the court with towels over their heads, and Fox was the last to leave.

The Wildcats had hoped their talented freshmen would carry them. Bam Adebayo and Fox each had 13 points, and Monk, the Southeastern Conference player of the year, finished with 12.

East region

SOUTH CAROLINA 77, FLORIDA 70 » At New York, Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points and South Carolina earned its first trip to the Final Four with a victory over Florida.

The seventh-seeded Gamecocks (26-10) used their trademark swarming defense and some solid free throw shooting to beat their fellow Southeastern Conference Gators (27-9) in the East Regional final at Madison Square Garden.

MARK HUMPHREY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS North Carolina forward Luke Maye, center, celebrates with teammates after shooting the go-ahead basket with just 0.3 seconds remaining to beat Kentucky 75-73 in the South Regional final on Sunday and send the Tar Heels to the Final Four.