MEMPHIS, TN – The following are notes from North Carolina’s 75-73 victory over Kentucky in the South Region championship game of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday night at FedExForum:
POSTGAME NOTES
NCAA SOUTH REGIONAL FINAL
CAROLINA 75, KENTUCKY 73
MARCH 26, 2017, MEMPHIS, TENN.
UNC Scoring Leader: Justin Jackson 19
UNC Rebound Leader: Kennedy Meeks 17
UNC Assist Leader: Justin Jackson 4
Carolina Notes
• Carolina is 31-7 overall, 8-2 in neutral-site games this year. Carolina advances to its record 20th Final Four (1946, 1957, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1981, 1982, 1991, 1993,1995, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017).
• Luke 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 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.
Tar Heel Player Notes
• Luke 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. Maye has 1,028. Jamison had 1,027.
• Meeks (4) and Isaiah Hicks (3) combined for seven of UNC’s nine blocked shots. Meeks’s 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.
Roy Williams Notes
• 814-216 overall, 396-115 in 14 years at Carolina
• 74-24 in the NCAA Tournament, including 40-10 at Carolina. The 74 wins are No. 2 all-time.
• Williams is 9-4 in regional finals, including 5-3 at Carolina.
• This is Williams’ ninth Final Four – only Mike Krzyzewski (12), John Wooden (12) and Dean Smith (11) have more.
• Has won 49 NCAA Tournament games in the last 16 years – eight more than any other coach in the country.
NCAA Tournament Notes
• Carolina is 121-45 all-time in the NCAA Tournament (second most wins behind Kentucky’s 124).
• Carolina is 59-11 as a No. 1 seed.
• This is the 10th time UNC has advanced to the Final Four as a No. 1 seed (1982, 1991, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2016 and 2017).
• Carolina is 20-7 in regional finals.
• Carolina is 4-0 in Memphis in FedExForum in NCAA Tournament games (2-0 in 2009 and 2-0 in 2017).
• Carolina is 23-8 against No. 2 seeds.
UNC-Kentucky Series
• Carolina leads, 24-15, including 3-1 in NCAA Tournament play (all four games in regional finals; UNC won in 1977, 1995 and 2017, Kentucky won in 2011).
