NO FREE PASS
Tar Heels survive a wild finish to return to NCAA title game
GLENDALE, Ariz. — North Carolina was about to end its year-long wait. The top-seeded Tar Heels were seconds from securing their second straight trip to the national championship game.
If the top rebounding team in the country didn’t live up to its billing, Oregon could have made Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beater feel like a paper cut.
Leading by one with less than six seconds remaining, North Carolina missed four straight free throws, but the Tar Heels grabbed two offensive rebounds to book a return to the national title game, escaping University of Phoenix Stadium with a 77-76 win over the third-seeded Ducks Saturday night.
“We’re relieved,” coach Roy Williams said. “We feel very lucky, feel very fortunate we’re still playing, but the fact of the matter is we’re still playing. … We feel very lucky, but that’s OK. Doesn’t make any difference. We’re still one of the two teams playing on Monday night.”
North Carolina (32-7) will meet Gonzaga (37-1) Monday night in a battle of historically incompatible top seeds, with the Bulldogs making their first title game appearance and the Tar Heels looking for their sixth national championship.
One year later, North Carolina is one win from completing its quest to repair the Villanovasized wound that has haunted it since becoming the victim of the all-time championship ending.
“I think you’re always going to have that in the back of your mind because it was a heartbreaking experience for us,” said senior center Kennedy Meeks. “We came so far last year, but it’s a different team. We have different dynamics.”
Meeks had the best game of his career, scoring a season-high 25 points on 11-of-13 shooting with 14 rebounds and three steals, but the senior nearly made it the last game of his career, missing two free throws with 5.8 seconds remaining.
Theo Pinson tapped out the second miss, with Oregon then sending Joel Berry II to the line with four seconds left. After Berry missed both shots, Meeks made up for his misses by snatching another offensive rebound, enabling the Tar Heels to run out the clock.
“We talk and work on little things all the time,” Williams said. “I tell them if you line up on the rebound spot, when your teammate is shooting the free throw, you’re trying to rebound. … So we do work on those things.”
Oregon got another strong performance from Jordan Bell (13 points, 16 rebounds) and hit 25 of 28 free throws, but the Ducks made just 7 of 26 3-pointers as their top two scorers, Dillon Brooks (10 points, 2-of-11) and Tyler Dorsey (21 points, 3-of-11 from the field, 12-of-12 free throws), had their worst efforts of the tournament.
“A close loss like this, it drives coaches crazy, it drives players crazy because you think about every one little thing,” Oregon coach Dana Altman said. “It re- ally messes with you a little bit longer. … I wish I had something to say to make them feel better. It hurts. … The few weeks, the next couple months are not going to feel too good.”
Even with Brooks, the Pac-12 Player of the Year, playing like a fan pulled from the stands, and Dorsey, the tournament’s second-leading scorer, failing to hit a shot in the first half, the Ducks still led most of the first half, holding the early edge on the glass and putting the Tar Heels in a 30-22 hole.
Then, North Carolina put up 15 points in a span of 2:30, taking a 39-36 lead into the break.
While Meeks continued dominating inside, ACC Player of the Year Justin Jackson (22 points) hit his first three 3-pointers of the second half to give North Carolina a 10-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining. The lead was barely enough, following the two most important rebounds of their season.