The Tar Heels, ranked 284th in the country this season from long range, reversed that one-game trend.
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“Marcus was hitting some big-time open shots”, said Johnson, his roommate and teammate.
The Wildcats have four wins in the tournament of at least 19 points, the only close game a five-point win over overall No. 1 seed Kansas in the Elite Eight. The senior grasped the attention of the college basketball world with his lethal scoring ability to go with his humble personality.
North Carolina has been terrific all season. We certainly didn’t do a very good job defensively, but Villanova had a lot to do with that.
Oklahoma did not bring their A game turning the ball over 17 times and they only scored 23 points in the 2nd half, while Villanova more than doubled that putting up 53 points.
“I wanted somebody in a North Carolina uniform to make it”, coach Roy Williams said of his team’s first 3. That’s OK. We lost our composure there obviously and things came apart. I thought, Hes got to be exhausted. Sophomore guard Joel Berry II had eight points and 10 assists. However, that, and other top shooting games, pre-date the shot clock (the ’85 Cats attempted just 28 shots; Villanova took 49 on Saturday), making this recent performance the most impressive.
“We do want them again”, senior guard Ryan Arcidiacono said. “But when you have a head coach, the leadership that this team has, you’re able to just keep everybody focused”.
“We didn’t have to play flawless, but we had to shoot better tonight”, Boeheim said.
“We had that [Virginia comeback] in the back of our heads”.
“I’m a little crushed right now”, Gbinije said. They will now face their toughest offensive opponent to date. We know our last game is on Monday.
That’s how guard Phil Booth described Ochefu, calling him “a point guard” in a traditional center’s body.
Syracuse made it here after rallying from 16 down against Virginia last week.
“We trust our big guys to play Ochefu one-on-one”, Paige said. “I mean, coming into the tournament, we weren’t even supposed to be in there, what you guys said”. “This kind of game, shooting like we just did, doesn’t happen”. He is in a tie with Adolph Rupp (Kentucky) and Dean Smith (UNC) for the third-most title game appearances in NCAA history. They played really well today. “They’ve changed the culture of basketball at the University of Oklahoma and they will have an effect on the program for a lot of years ahead”. What the Tar Heels do possess-and the huge problem facing Villanova-will be the size difference.
The team that scorched the nets against UNC Asheville, Iowa and Miami reappeared in Houston and the Sooners quickly discovered it’s not good to be on the receiving end when the Wildcats are shooting lights out.
North Carolina is one win from a sixth national championship. At that point, the Tar Heels (33-6) were 0-for-11 from behind the 3-point line. They’ll play Villanova on Monday.
When Buddy Hield returned to his locker following Oklahoma’s stunning 44-point Final Four loss to Villanova on Saturday night, one of the first texts he saw on his phone was from Denzel Valentine. Then Hart, who had 15 points in the first half, capped the surge with a layup for a 30-21 lead with 5:48 left before the break.
No tournament team has been successful slowing down the Tar Heels’ offense, which averages 88 points through five games.
“Every team is beatable for us”, he said.
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North Carolina doesn’t possess a player like Hield. They space the floor. “Then when he gets it going, he gets people threes”. It will be the first time the two teams will go against each other for the national championship.
