The greatest mood swing to ever hit Carolina sports will be a tough one to swallow, and it won’t go down any easier after the NCAA hands UNC its punishment as a result of an ongoing academic investigation. They don’t make very many mistakes. “We just needed 4.7 seconds of defense”.
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One of Jenkins’ former teammates on the Columbia Slammers, Forrest Fulmore, says he remembers Kris always being passionate about the game and working hard to consistently be better.
And all with the coach of the 1985 team, Rollie Massimino, watching the Wildcats win another championship. Thrilling game? The Ramblers trailed Cincinnati by 15 with 14 minutes to play and came back to force overtime before winning in the extra period.
North Carolina however, who stunned the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday with a 91-51 semi-final rout, were in no mood to roll over.
As in their semifinal win over Oklahoma, when six players had 10 or more points, Villanova used balanced scoring to stay in striking distance in the first half.
North Carolina’s Marcus Paige tied the game with his three-pointer – a “great shot”, Jenkins said – but Villanova was ready to “execute” in the next play with just seconds left on the clock, Jenkins added.
“I wanted to be aggressive”. But what I’d really, really love is for these guys…to get their first one. The play was created to let Arcidiacono make something happen. “When I saw him trailing, I knew he was getting the ball and would probably knock it down”.
“I think every shot’s going in”, Jenkins said, “and this one was no different”.
Since then, ‘Nova had consistently proven itself as a strong and capable team under coach Jay Wright.
When Arcidiacono passed and Jenkins put the ball in the air, forward Darryl Reynolds said, “It was the longest time the ball was in the air”. Booth swept across a Josh Hart screen and flashed for what would have been an open 3-pointer, which was all Villanova could have asked for only seconds earlier.
Arcidiacono said his initial thought was to take the shot himself, but he heard Jenkins calling for the ball and knew he could step into the shot.
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“I had the easy job to catch and shoot”, Jenkins said.
