University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina Set To Face Florida In A Final Four Showdown
March 31, 2000 | Men's Basketball
March 31, 2000
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By JIM O'CONNELL
AP Basketball Writer
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Final Four teams:
NORTH CAROLINA
Record: 22-13.Seed: No. 8.
Road to Indianapolis: Beat No. 9 Missouri 84-70, beat No. 1 Stanford 84-65, beat No. 4 Tennessee 74-69, beat No. 7 Tulsa 59-55.
Last Final Four: 1998.
Hot player: Freshman Joseph Forte enters the Final Four with 80 points, tied for the most in the tournament with Iowa State's Marcus Fizer. His scoring has increased in each tournament game from 13 in the opener against Missouri to a career-high 28 in the regional final against Tulsa. The 6-4 guard has also grabbed 26 rebounds in the four NCAA games and is 14-for-16 from the free throw line.
The positive: The Tar Heels' four-game winning streak is their longest of the season. This is their sixth Final Four appearance since 1991, two more than the next highest, Duke and Kentucky. History is also on North Carolina's side: No other school has made more appearances in the tournament than its 34 - the last 26 in a row. It has been to 15 Final Fours, tied for the record with UCLA. Brendan Haywood, Ed Cota and Max Owens were all on the 1998 Final Four team.
The negative: The Tar Heels' four-game winning streak is their longest of the season. The inconsistent performances of Haywood and Cota marked a season in which the Tar Heels lost a very unCarolinalike 13 games, four of six before the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels also don't look like recent Carolina teams, with a seven-man rotation, one that becomes even smaller with Haywood's susceptibility to foul trouble.
WISCONSIN
Record: 22-13.Seed: No. 8.
Road to Indianapolis: Beat No. 9 Fresno State 66-56, beat No. 1 Arizona 66-59, beat No. 4 LSU 61-48, beat No. 6 Purdue 64-60.
Last Final Four: 1941.
Hot player: Jon Bryant was selected as the MVP of the West Regional after averaging 16.8 points while shooting 50 percent from the field (23-for-46) and 3-point range (18-for-36). The 6-foot-2 senior tied the school record with seven 3s in the NCAA opener against Fresno State and his 18 in the four tournament games would be the fourth-highest mark on the team for the entire season. He averaged 31.5 minutes in the tournament after playing a total of 62 minutes in the previous four games.
The positive: The Badgers have won 11 of their last 14 games, allowing 60 or more points only four times in that stretch. The scoring has picked up as Wisconsin averaged 64.3 points per game in the tournament, a mark it surpassed only nine times in the regular season.
The negative: All three losses in the impressive season-ending run have been to Michigan State by a total of 31 points. Even though the offense has picked up in the tournament, the Badgers still didn't shoot 50 percent in any of the four games.
MICHIGAN STATE
Record: 30-7.Seed: No. 1.
Road to Indianapolis: Beat No. 16 Valparaiso 65-38, beat No. 8 Utah 73-61, beat No. 4 Syracuse 75-58, beat No. 2 Iowa State 75-64.
Last Final Four: 1999.
Hot player: Mateen Cleaves missed the first 13 games of the season with a stress fracture in his right foot. His last 13 games have shown how much he means to the Spartans as he has averaged 14.2 points, 7.4 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 44 percent from the field (64-for-144) and 42 percent from 3-point range (23-for-55). In the tournament he has averaged 14.0 points and 5.4 assists.
The positive: The Spartans are the lone No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four and this is their second straight trip. Their 3-0 record over Wisconsin should boost confidence and no team has scored more than 65 points against them since the game before their nine-game winning streak began.
The negative: Michigan State has been so solid that even its negative has become a positive. The Spartans have fallen behind in each of their last two games by at least eight points in the second half, but closed the win over Syracuse with a 17-0 run and ended the victory over Iowa State with a 23-5 run.
FLORIDA
Record: 28-7.Seed: No. 5.
Road to Indianapolis: Beat No. 12 Butler 69-68, OT, beat No. 5 Illinois 93-76, beat No. 1 Duke 87-78, beat No. 3 Oklahoma State 77-65.
Last to Final Four: 1994.
Hot player: Mike Miller has been the most consistent player in a very balanced attack scoring 59 points in the four tournament games. No points were bigger than the buzzer-beating drive in overtime that beat Butler in the first round. It capped a 16-point, 13-rebound effort for the 6-8 sophomore forward. He was selected MVP of the East Regional.
The positive: The Gators' press has become one of the most feared. They've worn down their last three opponents, including top-ranked Duke. Using a 10-man rotation has kept the press fresh, and when Florida did look tired late against Duke and Oklahoma State, coach Billy Donovan dropped into more of a halfcourt game and came away with two impressive wins. The Gators are among the top five nationally in scoring average (84.6) and average margin of victory (16.2).
The negative: Seven of the players in the 10-man rotation are sophomores and freshmen, so there isn't a whole lot of experience on the roster. The Gators forced 40 turnovers in the last two games but committed 38 themselves. Florida has also had some problems on the boards in the tournament, grabbing just three more than their opponents in the four games, well off their 6.0 margin for the season.
