North Carolina Tar Heels: Maye the Shot Be With You
The North Carolina Tar Heels defeated the Kentucky Wildcats in a thriller 75-73 which once again needed Luke Maye.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have got to stop doing things like this. This marked the second game in a row where the Heels got little production from their starting senior big men in the scoring column. The difference between the Kentucky game and the Butler game had to be that Joel Berry was reduced as an offensive threat as well. The Heels had to win the game on the steady foundations of Justin Jackson and Luke Maye.
Yes, Luke Maye. For the second straight game, Maye set a new career record for points. He also shot the winning nineteen foot basket. The Heels had followed up a mystery five second call with watching another Malik Monk dagger three go in to tie the game. Theo Pinson, responsible for his share of silliness earlier in the game, came down the court and passed to the open Maye when the road to a layup suddenly closed on him.
Maye hit the shot and was named South Regional MVP for his two days of work. This is starting to become a habit, and we can only hope that other players can bring their games up to help out the team in the Final Four.
Berry gave a heroic effort of a different sort. He rolled his ankle again and had to leave the first half. This left lots of feelings about how losing Kendall Marshall had crippled the Heels’ hopes a few years ago. Berry came back into the game only to discover he couldn’t get enough on his jump shot; this led to several missed threes.
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By crunch time, Berry had accepted that limitation and proceeded to use the backboard to do what his lift could not. He hit several clutch runners and lay ups to keep the Heels in the game when Kentucky made a very Arkansas-looking come back late in the second half. By not forcing it, Berry enabled his team to eventually overcome the deficit.
Justin Jackson had a workman-like twenty points. He got them on his array of floaters and strange shots that somehow bounce in. He got a four point play in the second half to give the Heels another chance with the lead.