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Lucas: Rapid Reactions
March 26, 2017 | Men's Basketball
By Adam Lucas
1. I can't believe that just happened. Let's just all take a moment and consider what just happened. Carolina is going to the Final Four on the back of a Luke Maye 18-foot jump shot with 0.3 seconds remaining.
2. Roy Williams doesn't always call timeouts, but when he does, he calls them with his team down five and 5:09 remaining. That timeout sent the Tar Heels off on a 12-0 gamechanging run.
3. Never doubt Joel Berry's toughness. The Tar Heel point guard went down with what looked like a catastrophic ankle injury early in the first half, and went to the locker room with trainer Doug Halverson with a dejected look and a towel around his neck. He reentered the game with 11:15 left in the half, and what was his first play? A hard drive to the rim that he turned into a basket.
4. Kentucky's hard double teams in the post frustrated Carolina. The Heels beat it early for a quick dunk, but then struggled to get the ball inside. Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks came into the weekend taking 26 percent of Carolina's field goal attempts. They took just 11.5% of the Tar Heel shots in the first three halves in Memphis.
6. Stilman White only had three minutes in the box score, but it was an important three minutes when the Tar Heels were on the edge of disaster. Joel Berry was in the locker room with an injury, Seventh Woods committed two fouls in 1:02, and White came in and ran the team effectively and also added a big basket. The senior hasn't always gotten the call, but when he has, he's been ready to compete.
7. Carolina missed a critical opportunity to establish a cushion in the final five minutes of the first half. With Kentucky crippled with foul trouble (Adebayo, Monk and Fox all had two fouls), the Tar Heels had a six-point lead and an opportunity to push it into double figures. Instead, the periodic turnover bug hit again, as UNC coughed it up three straight times with under three minutes left. The Heels didn't score in the final 3:26 of the half and missed six of the team's final seven shots. That sent Carolina into the locker room with just a five-point lead instead of what could have been a much bigger advantage.
8. Luke Maye was terrific in Memphis and was great in two games against Kentucky this year. In a game when the Tar Heels were thirsty for offense, Maye provided it on some key possessions. The sophomore had 11 points against the Wildcats in Las Vegas and then scored an unbelievable 17 points, including the game-winner with 0.3 seconds left on a jumper when his feet didn't even appear to be set.
9. Williams talked to his team about composure after the win over Arkansas. The Tar Heels did much better in that department against Kentucky, and a veteran UNC team looked a little more composed in the final minutes against the young Cats.
10. Justin Jackson was tremendous on defense against 47-point man Malik Monk. The ACC Player of the Year followed Monk all over the court and harassed him into a 4-of-10 performance. Monk had just one field goal in the final 25 minutes of game action.
11. Enjoy this one for a few hours, Carolina fans. That was an unbelievable game. And don't forget, UNC did it in a virtual road game.
