Tar Heels on target en route to Elite Eight
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — North Carolina expects strong offensive performances from junior leaders Justin Jackson and Joel Berry II, but Luke Maye provided an unexpected bonus.
Berry scored 26 points, Jackson had 24, but it was the first career double-double from Maye — 16 points and 12 rebounds — that helped set the tone early and send the top-seeded Tar Heels to a 92-80 victory over Butler in the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.
“He has the ability to shoot the ball. He has the ability to rebound the ball,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said of the sophomore forward. “But the reason Luke is going to be successful is what he’s got in his brain and in his heart.”
Carolina, which reached the Elite Eight for the 27th time, will face the winner of Friday’s second South Regional between UCLA and Kentucky.
Maye’s early jolt off the bench helped Carolina (30-7) build a first-half lead to as many as 20 as the Tar Heels benefitted from accuracy, connecting on 54.4 percent of their shots while Butler was at 43.5 percent.
“We knew we were going to have to make some perimeter shots to give ourselves a chance,” Butler coach Chris Holtmann said. “They were going to give us some clean looks, and we were going to have to make them. We just didn’t.”
Andrew Chrabascz led the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (25-9) with 21 points and seven rebounds, while Kelan Martin finished with 16 points for Butler, which struggled shooting early and did not recover.
“We let them get into a rhythm, especially in the beginning,” Chrabascz said. “When you let a team like that feel good about themselves, it’s tough to get them out of that with how many talented guys they have on their team. And also they answered every run that we had.”