North Carolina Tar Heels: Maye the Shot Be With You
Pinson and Nate Britt played with effort, but both created some silly turnovers that were part of Kentucky runs to get back into the game.
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Refereeing was tight early, but opened up at the end of each half. In the first half, Pinson, Seventh Woods, Kentucky’s Monk, Deandre Fox, Edrice Adebayo, and Derek Willis all had two fouls. Fox and Monk were held out until the second half and so they did not contribute for a long length of time.
That brings us to Stilman White. White was tapped when Berry was hurt and Woods quickly picked up two fouls. White had a couple things going for him. He had played big minutes in a regional final before, way back against Kansas before his Mormon mission. His main accomplishment was drawing two fouls on Fox to get him out of the game when the freshman guard was heating up. White also made a bucket of his own before Berry returned.
Kentucky had some nice play from Isaac Humphries and Willis that they did not try to take advantage of. The two big men had good production from midrange jumpers when the Heels switched off of them. The Wildcats also failed to attack more with Isaiah Briscoe against the hobbled and shorter Berry. Instead they preferred to let Fox attack the middle against Pinson and see what happened.
Fox was 5-14 from the field so a lot his shots ended up in the mitts of Kennedy Meeks. Meeks did corral seventeen rebounds to make up for the lack of numbers from Isaiah Hicks for the second straight game. Meeks also hit free throws, which was not the trend for the team until late in the second half.
The Tar Heels now get giant killers Oregon in the Final Four. The Ducks beat Kansas by turning up the defensive pressure, so it looks like more of the same for the Tar Heels. Texas Southern seems a long time ago in an age where Luke Maye was not a folk hero. The Heels-Ducks matchup will be the second game in Phoenix next Saturday.