North Carolina comfortable with being the team to beat
Somebody has to show up in Houston next weekend hearing they're the best team. Based on events this weekend just off South Broad Street, that squad would have to be North Carolina. As good as Villanova and Oklahoma have looked in this NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels earned the label at the Wells Fargo Center, seamlessly alternating between flawless and rugged.
Somebody has to show up in Houston next weekend hearing they're the best team. Based on events this weekend just off South Broad Street, that squad would have to be North Carolina. As good as Villanova and Oklahoma have looked in this NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels earned the label at the Wells Fargo Center, seamlessly alternating between flawless and rugged.
Not only because North Carolina is the only top seed left in the tournament. Whatever it took, this group seemed to have it against Indiana and Notre Dame.
Sunday night, UNC prevailed, 88-74, after withstanding some legitimate body blows from Notre Dame, especially a double-digit second-half comeback that (very) temporarily put the Irish ahead. The Tar Heels answered with a shrug, going right back up by double digits 31/2 minutes later.
"They really answered like men, and we didn't have much left," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said of UNC's answer when the Irish took the brief lead. "They wore us down with their depth and their big men. . . . I thought the way they answered that run was championship level. They've got a great vibe about them."
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said one of his messages was: "It's not supposed to be easy to get to the Final Four, and we can handle this."
UNC point guard Marcus Paige said, "I think we always thought we were going to be the favorite." When the Tar Heels are playing their best, he said, "we're happy with any matchup we get."
"Why would you not want to be the favorite?" Brice Johnson said.
The Irish could put up a game that was a model of offensive efficiency, but they just couldn't match what North Carolina offers inside when the Tar Heels only had six turnovers of their own, shooting 61.5 percent, the best they've ever shot in 26 trips to a regional final.
Remember North Carolina took the first turn as No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, starting the season in the pole position, and surely would be No. 1 again right now. (Looking further at that preseason poll speaks to North Carolina's accomplishment: Kentucky was No. 2, Maryland No. 3.)
Let's stop for a second and acknowledge . . . Syracuse! Syracuse? Syracuse! In a world where Jim Boeheim can show up at the Final Four as a Cinderella, anything is possible. His Orange weren't just a 10th seed. They were a ninth seed out of 14 teams in the ACC tournament.
Tar Heels top reserve Theo Pinson said the Tar Heels saw what was happening in the Syracuse game, watching it in their locker room, and agreed as a team to turn it off, to focus on what they had to do.
The Wells Fargo Center fans clearly were rooting for Syracuse on the big screen as they filtered into the place. That made sense since most were dressed in Carolina blue, and understood that beating Virginia again in the national semifinal would have been no small task. (Be careful Heels fans, when you root for a date with a Boeheim zone.)
You thought for just a second in the second half that maybe the Tar Heels could pull off a Virginia-like exit. They had their foot on the gas, Houston almost in their sights, up double digits, when Notre Dame, led by point guard Demetrius Jackson, suddenly said not so fast. A Jackson bucket and a three-pointer and a cheeky alley-oop that turned into a three-point play thrust the Irish back into it.
When Tar Heels forward Brice Johnson was called for an over-the-back while going for another of his offensive rebounds, he flipped the ball behind him high in the air and was called for a technical. Medford's Steve Vasturia tossed in the free throws. The Irish scored again inside and were ahead.
But there were almost 13 minutes to play. The Tar Heels went back to doing Tar Heels things. Notre Dame couldn't make the stops that would make the basket smaller for UNC.
This game started strong and it stayed there, both teams oozing their offensive quality. In the first half, Brice Johnson had his way with 15 points and eight rebounds. Johnson had more rebounds than his teammates combined and more than Notre Dame's team combined.
In the end, however, the Tar Heels were doing what Tar Heels teams of this caliber have done for generations, whipping the ball around the court, ticking off the last seconds. Brey took Jackson out with 34 seconds left and Jackson let the emotions hit him before he left the court. Roy Williams pulled out his stars and they had an entirely different expression. On to Houston. They'll live with being favorites.
Cutting down the net, Roy Williams felt the ladder move under him and grabbed to hold on and ended up cutting a finger on some scissors. Not the first time, his players pointed out. Williams had bitten his own lip and pointed it out, saying, "I'll bleed for you guys."
Marcus Paige said: "He should be used to cutting nets."
Johnson looked over at Williams: "Keep bleeding, coach."
@jensenoffcampus
