University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina Vs. Oregon In Final Four
April 2, 2017 | Men's Basketball
| UNC (31-7) vs. Oregon (33-5) |
| When: April 1, 2017 - 8:50 p.m. ET |
| Where: University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Ariz. |
| Watch: CBS • NCAA March Madness Live |
| Live Stats: GoHeels.com |
| UNC Notes • Oregon Notes |
| Rankings: UNC No. 6/No. 8 (AP/coaches); Oregon is No. 9/9. |
| Series: UNC leads, 4-0 |
• The University of North Carolina, champions of the South Regional, plays the University of Oregon, champions of the Midwest Regional, in the second national semifinal on Saturday, April 1. Game time is approximately 8:50 p.m. Eastern (5:50 p.m. Pacific Time).
• Carolina, the No. 1 seed in the South Region, advanced to the Final Four with a 103-64 win over No. 16 seed Texas Southern, a 72-65 win over No. 8 seed Arkansas, a 92-80 win over No. 4 seed Butler and a 75-73 win over No. 2 seed Kentucky.
• The Tar Heels are 31-7 overall. They went 14-4 in the ACC to win the regular-season title by two games over Florida State, Notre Dame and Louisville.
FINAL FOUR
• Carolina is playing in the Final Four for a record 20th time. No other school has more than 17 Final Four appearances.
• Carolina has played in the Final Four in 1946, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1988, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017.
• Carolina is the only school to play in the Final Four in eight different decades.
• Carolina has won the NCAA title in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009.
• The Tar Heels are 16-16 in Final Four games (including consolation round games).
• The Tar Heels are 10-9 in national semifinals with wins in 1946, 1957, 1968, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009 and 2016.
• Last year, Carolina beat Syracuse, 83-66, in Houston in the national semifinal.
• The Tar Heels lost to Villanova, 77-74, in the 2016 national championship game. Carolina is 5-5 in the title game.
• This is the fourth time Carolina has reached the Final Four as a No. 1 seed after playing and beating the highest possible seeds in each round. UNC also did that in 1993, 1998 and 2009.
• This is the 13th time UNC has reached the Final Four since the NCAA began seeding the field in 1979. This is the ninth time in those 13 trips that at least two No. 1 seeds have reached the Final Four. Last year, UNC was the only No. 1 seed to make it to Houston.
• One-hundred sixty-nine (169) Tar Heels have played in the Final Four, more than any other school.
UNC IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Carolina is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the 48th time. That is the second-most appearances behind Kentucky (56).
• This is UNC's 44th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last 51 years.
• Carolina is first in NCAA Tournament history in Final Fours (20), second in appearances (48), second in wins (121), second in games (166), second in winning percentage (.729) and tied for third in championships (five).
• Carolina's win over Kentucky was its 121st NCAA Tournament win. Only three other schools have played that many NCAA Tournament games (Kentucky, Kansas and Duke).
• Carolina is 29-1 in the round of 64, 29-12 in the round of 32, 27-8 in regional semifinals, 19-7 in regional finals, 10-9 in national semifinals and 5-5 in national championship games.
TAR HEELS AS NO. 1 SEED
• Carolina was the No. 1 seed in the South Region. This was the 16th time UNC earned a No. 1 since seeds were established in 1979.
• Carolina has been a No. 1 seed more times than any other school. Duke and Kansas are tied for second with 13; Kentucky has 12.
• Carolina has been a No. 1 seed in 1979, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1991,1993, 1994, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2016 and 2017.
• Carolina has advanced to the Final Four 10 times as a No. 1 seed – 1982, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017.
• Roy Williams has earned a No. 1 seed for the 12th time. Only Mike Krzyzewski (13) has more. Dean Smith and Bill Self are tied for third with eight.
• Carolina is 59-11 as a No. 1 seed.
WILLIAMS IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
• Roy Williams is making his 27th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in his 29th year as a head coach.
• Kansas was not eligible to play in the 1989 NCAA Tournament when Williams became the Jayhawks' head coach; UNC played in the 2010 NIT.
• Williams is second in NCAA Tournament wins (74), second in games (98), third in winning percentage among coaches with at least 50 games (.755), fourth in Final Fours (9), tied for fifth in NCAA Tournaments (27), tied for sixth in titles (2), and is the only coach to win a game in 27 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
• Williams is 74-24 overall in the NCAA Tournament, including 40-10 at Carolina and 34-14 at Kansas.
• Williams is fourth in Final Fours as a head coach with nine. Only John Wooden (12), Mike Krzyzewski (12) and Dean Smith (11) have more.
• This is the third time Williams has led teams to the Final Four in consecutive seasons – 2002 and 2003 while at Kansas, and 2008 and 2009, and 2016 and 2017 as the head coach of the Tar Heels.
• Williams is 27-0 in the first round (13-0 at Carolina), 18-9 in the second round (9-4 at UNC), 13-5 in the Sweet 16 (8-1 at UNC), 9-4 in the Elite Eight (5-3 at UNC), 5-3 in national semifinals (3-1 at UNC) and 2-3 in the championship game (2-1 at UNC).
• Williams is 40-9 as a No. 1 seed, including 31-4 at Carolina.
ROY WILLIAMS' SEEDS BY YEAR
No. 1 – 1992, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2002*, 2005*, 2007, 2008*, 2009*, 2012, 2016*, 2017
No. 2 – 1990, 1993*, 1996, 2003*, 2011
No. 3 – 1991*, 2006
No. 4 – 1994, 2001, 2015
No. 6 – 1999, 2004, 2014
No. 8 – 2000, 2013
* reached the Final Four
2017 NCAA ELITE EIGHT RECAP
UNC 75, KENTUCKY 73
• Luke Maye hit a jump shot with 0.3 seconds to play to give No. 1 seed North Carolina a 75-73 win over No. 2 Kentucky to win the South Regional in Memphis.
• Maye's game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds to play was Carolina's first game-winner in the final second since Marcus Paige beat NC State, 85-84, on a driving layup with 0.9 seconds to play in Raleigh on 2/26/14.
• It was the first time a Tar Heel scored a game-winning shot in the last 10 seconds of an NCAA Tournament game since Rick Fox banked in the winner at the buzzer against No. 1 Oklahoma in the 1990 second round.
• Maye's basket is the fourth last-second shot to secure a Final Four berth since 1985: Christian Laettner (Duke vs. UConn, 1990), Laettner (vs. Kentucky, 1992) and Scottie Reynolds (Villanova vs. Pitt, 2009).
• Carolina is now 5-4 in regional championship games involving the No. 1 and 2 seeds (4-3 as the No. 1 seed).
• Carolina out-rebounded Kentucky, 44-34. The Tar Heels are 31-3 this year when they out-rebound the opponents (earlier this year Kentucky was one of three teams to out-rebound UNC and beat UNC, 103-100).
• Carolina is 7-5 this year when scoring under 80 points.
• Carolina and Kentucky have combined for 245 NCAA Tournament wins. No other game in college basketball history featured as many combined NCAA Tournament wins as the 2017 South Regional final.
• Maye was named Most Valuable Player of the South Regional after scoring a career high for the second straight game, including a game-winning shot from just inside the three-point line with 0.3 seconds to play.
• Maye averaged 16.5 points and 7.5 rebounds and shot 12 of 19 from the floor, 5 of 8 3FGs and 4 of 5 FTs in Memphis.
• Maye is the 18th Tar Heel to win NCAA Regional MVP honors, but is the first non-starter to win that award. Maye joins Lennie Rosenbluth (1957), Bob Lewis (1967), Rusty Clark (1968), Charles Scott (1969), Dennis Wuycik (1972), John Kuester (1977), Al Wood (1981), James Worthy (1982), George Lynch (1993), Jerry Stackhouse (1995), Shammond Williams (1997), Antawn Jamison (1998), Joseph Forte (2000), Sean May (2005), Tyler Hansbrough (2008), Ty Lawson (2009) and Brice Johnson (2016) as UNC's Regional MVPs.
• Maye has scored in double figures six times this year and as a Tar Heel, including three of the last four games. This is the second time this year he scored his career high against Kentucky. He had a career-best 11 points vs. UK in Las Vegas on 12/17/16, then surpassed that with a 13-point game at NC State on 2/15/17. He topped that mark with 16 points against Butler in the Sweet 16 on 3/22/17, then established a new mark in the Elite Eight vs. Kentucky. His winning shot with 0.3 seconds to play established his new career scoring high.
• Kennedy Meeks grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds. That tied the sixth-most in an NCAA Tournament game by a Tar Heel and were the most since Tyler Zeller set the school record for an NCAA game with 22 against Ohio University in 2012.
• Meeks surpassed Antawn Jamison for sixth place in school history in career rebounds. Meeks has 1,028. Jamison had 1,027.
• Meeks (4) and Isaiah Hicks (3) combined for seven of UNC's nine blocked shots. Meeks' four blocks are the most by a Tar Heel this year.
• All-America and ACC Player of the Year Justin Jackson led all scorers with 19 points and led UNC with four assists. It was the 19th time in 38 games this year Jackson led UNC in scoring and the third straight NCAA Tournament game he has led UNC in assists.
ALL-MEMPHIS REGIONAL TEAM
• Most Outstanding Player Luke Maye, Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson headlined the 2017 South Regional All-Tournament team.
• Kentucky's De'Aaron Fox and Isaac Humphries also made the team.
• Berry also made the 2016 East Regional All-Tournament team. He joins a list of Rusty Clark (1967-68), Larry Miller (1967-68), Charles Scott (1968-69), James Worthy (1981-82), Sam Perkins (1981-82), Brad Daugherty (1985-86), J.R. Reid (1987-88-89), Eric Montross (1992-93), Donald Williams (1993-95), Shammond Williams (1997-98), Antawn Jamison (1997-98), Vince Carter (1997-98), Ed Cota (1997-98-2000), Tyler Hansbrough (2007-08-09), Ty Lawson (2008-09) and Tyler Zeller (2011-12) to earn multiple NCAA Tournament All-Regional selections.
CAROLINA'S FIVE NCAA TITLES
• Carolina won the NCAA championship in 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005 and 2009.
• Frank McGuire coached the Tar Heels to a perfect 32-0 record in 1957. Carolina won the title by winning consecutive triple overtime games in Kansas City, first beating Michigan State in the semifinals, then knocking off Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas, 54-53, in the championship game. The '57 Tar Heels were led by National Player of the Year Lennie Rosenbluth.
• Dean Smith won the first of two NCAA titles in 1982 in New Orleans as the Tar Heels beat John Thompson and Patrick Ewing's Georgetown Hoyas, 63-62. Final Four MVP James Worthy scored 28 points in the championship game and freshman Michael Jordan hit the winning shot with 17 seconds to play.
• Final Four MVP Donald Williams scored 25 points in both the semifinals against Kansas (coached by Roy Williams) and the championship game against Michigan (led by Chris Webber) as Carolina won the 1993 title, the second for Coach Smith and UNC's second in the Louisiana Superdome. UNC MVP George Lynch and All-America center Eric Montross (now color analyst for the Tar Heel Radio Network) also starred on that team.
• Sean May scored 26 points and Marvin Williams scored the game-winning basket with 1:27 to play as Carolina beat No. 1 ranked Illinois, 75-70, in St. Louis in 2005 to give Roy Williams his first national championship. Cousy Award winner Raymond Felton had seven assists, a key steal and clinched the win at the free throw line.
• Final Four MVP Wayne Ellington scored 17 first-half points, Ty Lawson set a championship-game record with eight steals and Tyler Hansbrough capped a spectacular career with an NCAA title in 2009 as UNC beat Michigan State, 89-72, in Detroit. The title was the second in five years for Roy Williams.
APRIL
• This is the eighth time the Tar Heels have played Final Four games in the month of April (1993, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017).
• Carolina is 7-4 in April – 4-3 in the semifinals and 3-1 in the national championship game.
• Carolina is 0-1 on April 1, losing to Arkansas in the 1995 semifinal in Seattle.
ARIZONA
• Carolina is 1-1 in the state of Arizona.
• The Tar Heels beat the University of Arizona in Tucson in 2007.
• San Francisco beat UNC, 68-64, in the round of 32 in the 1978 NCAA Tournament West Regional in Tempe. That game was the final collegiate game for UNC's Wooden Award winner Phil Ford.
SERIES RECORD VS. OREGON
• Carolina is 4-0 against Oregon.
• The Tar Heels opened the 1968-69 season by beating the Ducks in Greensboro and Chapel Hill (Carmichael Auditorium) on consecutive days.
• The teams have played once in Oregon in Portland in the 1976 Far West Classic.
• The most recent meeting in the series came on 11/25/08, a 98-69 win by No. 1 ranked UNC in the semifinal of the Maui Invitational. Danny Green led five Tar Heels in double figures with 21 points (made five 3FGs).
• This is the first time UNC has played a Pac 12 team in the NCAA Tournament since UNC beat Washington in the 2011 NCAA second round in Charlotte.
• This is the first time UNC has played a Pac 12 school in the Final Four since Arizona in 1997 and Utah in 1998 (the Utes were not members of the Pac 12 in 1998).
GONZAGA/SOUTH CAROLINA SERIES
• The Tar Heels are 1-1 against Gonzaga and 57-21 against South Carolina.
• Carolina defeated Gonzaga in the 2009 NCAA Sweet 16 in Memphis and lost to the Zags in November 2006 in Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT.
• The Tar Heels and Gamecocks have played six times (UNC is 5-1) since South Carolina departed the ACC after the 1971 season.
• The teams last played on 11/25/2011 in Orleans Arena in the Las Vegas Invitational. That is the only game between the schools since 1996.
• North Carolina and South Carolina have played once in the NCAA Tournament. UNC defeated the Gamecocks, 92-69, on 3/16/1972 in Morgantown, W.Va., in the East regional semifinal.
THE 2016 FINAL FOUR (HOUSTON)
• Carolina defeated Syracuse, 83-66, in the national semifinal, which matched the largest win ever in a Final Four game (17 points) for the Tar Heels.
• Carolina shot 53.8 percent from the floor, including 60 percent in the second half.
• Carolina missed its first 12 three-point attempts, then made four of its final five over the last 9:26.
• Brice Johnson and Justin Jackson led UNC with 16 points apiece, Joel Berry II had 10 assists (tied the UNC record for the semifinals) and Marcus Paige made three 3FGs.
• Kennedy Meeks had 15 points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals.
• Villanova's Kris Jenkins hit a three-pointer as time expired to win the national championship, 77-74.
• Carolina led by five at the half, but fell behind by 10 points with six minutes to play.
• The Tar Heels tied it at 74 on a Paige three-pointer with 4.7 seconds to play. Paige had eight points in the final 1:33 to tie the game.
• Paige led all players with 21 points and six assists.
• Berry scored 20 points (15 in the first half).
• Carolina set a national championship game record by making 11 of 17 three-pointers (.647).
• Villanova was 8 of 14 from three-point range, equaling the highest percentage (.571) ever against UNC in the NCAA Tournament.
• Berry and Johnson made the All-Final Four team.
• Berry was 4 for 4 from three-point range, second best ever in a title game.
FINAL FOUR RECORDS
• Carolina is part of numerous Final Four records including:
– most points in the semifinals (39 by Al Wood vs. Virginia, 1981)
– most field goal attempts in the semifinals (42 by Lennie Rosenbluth vs. Michigan State, 1957)
– most steals in the championship game (8 by Ty Lawson vs. Michigan State, 2009)
– highest three-point percentage in the championship game (.647, 11 for 17, by UNC vs. Villanova, 2016)
– most points at the half and largest lead at the half in the finals (UNC led Michigan State 55-34 in the 2009 championship game)
– most overtimes (3 in the semifinals vs. Michigan State and 3 in the finals vs. Kansas, 1957)
VERSUS THE 2017 NCAA FIELD
• Carolina is 14-5 this year against teams in the 2017 NCAA Tournament.
• The Tar Heels have played 14 teams in the field, beating Arkansas, Butler, Florida State, Louisville, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Texas Southern, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Wisconsin; splitting two games with Virginia, Miami and Kentucky; going 1-2 vs. Duke.
