Carolina’s talent, size and depth wear down the upstart Orange
HOUSTON — It was happening again.
Almost a week after Syracuse’s improbable comeback against Virginia, the Orange again trailed big against North Carolina in the second half of Saturday’s national semifinal game. Then, the lead started to vanish: a three- pointer, a dunk, a layup. When Malachi Richardson, last week’s hero, hit another three- pointer, the lead was in single digits, at seven.
North Carolina was reeling. It was dominating inside, but was 0 for 13 on three- point attempts. At the other end, Marcus Paige tried another.
This time it went in. The comeback faltered. North Carolina peeled away for an 83- 66 victory, and will play Villanova on Monday
for the national championship.
The three- pointer ended a horrid stretch for the backcourt from behind the arc, but Paige said “it was more of a relief for our entire team. We needed that basket.”
In f ilm study this week, North Carolina ( 33- 6) watched how Syracuse ( 23- 14) had clamped down against Virginia with a full- court press. Forward Kennedy Meeks said the players saw how the Orange harassed a usually careful, patient team into mistakes.
“It’s a dangerous thing,” Meeks said.
Syracuse again clamped down late, as it cut into North Carolina’s lead.
“That’s when we needed our press to work, we needed our traps to work,” Syracuse guard Trevor Cooney said.
At f irst, they did. North Carolina had two turnovers in three possessions.
Tar Heels Coach Roy Williams called timeout and screamed at his players.
“My pulse went up quite a bit,” he said. “My heart rate went up quite a bit.”
The team settled down. It leaned on its preparation.
“We knew they would press eventually in the game,” forward Brice Johnson said. “Hey, if that’s what you want to do against a team that likes to run, then, hey, by all means go ahead and do it. We got a bunch of layups out of it. That’s what we do.”
The Tar Heels bullied Syracuse inside for much of the game. They scored 50 points in the paint and outrebounded the Orange, 43- 31.
Johnson and Meeks shot a combined 13 for 20. Johnson and forward Justin Jackson each had 16 points, Meeks 15.
For Syracuse, Cooney scored 22 points and Richardson had 17.
North Carolina will make its 10th appearance in the national title game. The Tar Heels’ path there could not have been much smoother. They’ve trailed for all of 50 seconds in the second half of their NCAA tournament games.
But in the other semifinal, Villanova won by 44 points. It is the f irst time since 2008 both semifinal games were decided by double digits. Some North Carolina players caught some of the early contest. Others learned of the score for the f irst time in the postgame locker room.
“They won by how much?” Meeks said, mouth agape.
Williams said he’d been informed of Villanova’s unprecedented 71.4% shooting accu- racy. If they shoot that again, Williams drawled, “they’ll probably win again.”
Syracuse, meanwhile, was an unlikely pick to even make it this far. The Orange squeaked into the tournament. Cooney said at his postgame press conference that “we weren’t even supposed to be here.” But they became the f irst No. 10 seed to reach the Final Four.
The game had another unusual distinction: it was played between two teams under NCAA scrutiny. Syracuse is on probation for NCAA rules violations, which Coach Jim Boeheim has vigorously argued against, and which resulted in his nine- game suspension earlier this season.
North Carolina has been under investigation for years over allegations of widespread academic cheating in the athletic program.
Boeheim grew argumentative when a reporter asked about the suspension.
“Why do you guys always ask me that, really? Did you ask Roy that?” Boeheim said. “I guess my answer to your question is, I’m happier now at the end of this year than any time I’ve ever coached.”
Sanctions may await North Carolina, too, but all of the involved players have moved on. For now, at least, their focus is elsewhere.
Running up the tunnel toward the locker room, Johnson yelled, “One more!”