Instant Analysis | UNC 75, Kentucky 73
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Former walk-on Luke Maye hit the game-winning shot with 0.3 seconds left to help top-seeded North Carolina edge Kentucky 75-73 in a thrilling South Region final on Sunday evening at FedExForum.
Maye scored 17 points and Justin Jackson led all scorers with 19 as UNC (31-7) punched the final ticket to the Final Four.
Maye, a sophomore forward, buried his jump shot nine seconds after Kentucky's Malik Monk tied the game with a tough 3-pointer in traffic. It was a frenetic finish to a wildly entertaining, back-and-forth affair that featured five lead changes and five ties.
Kentucky (32-6) scored 18 points off 16 UNC turnovers and got quality performances from Isaac Humphries, Derek Willis and Dominique Hawkins. De'Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo led the Wildcats with 13 points each, while Humphries and Monk scored 12.
But UK was undone by UNC's interior dominance. The Tar Heels scored 34 points in the paint.
► UNC ends Kentucky's season at Elite Eight
► Who stays, who goes for UK basketball?
► Calipari: I probably should've called timeout
► Jackson: 'A little friendly banter' with Monk
► Rewind | North Carolina 75, Kentucky 73
North Carolina, the regular-season ACC champion, will play Oregon in Saturday's Final Four. South Carolina and Gonzaga will play in the other matchup in Phoenix.
► Turning point: Kentucky took a five-point lead with 5:10 left as Humphries surged to a career-high 12 points. But after a timeout, North Carolina's Theo Pinson scored on a tough runner, and then Jackson scored over Monk despite Monk's as-good-as-possible defense. UNC's 12-0 run was pivotal.
► Game ball: Jackson made some big shots, including his four-point play and the tough basket in the big run. But UNC's Kennedy Meeks was a monster in a game full of them. He had to be physical and active on the glass, and he was, snagging 17 rebounds (no other player on either team pulled more than seven). That he largely stayed out of foul trouble allowed him to stay on the floor and remain a constant presence underneath the basket.
► Unexpected supporting star: How about UNC's Maye? He put together back-to-back strong performances in Memphis for the Tar Heels. In a game packed with stars, Maye's battle against Humphries and Derek Willis provided plenty of entertainment.
► Key stat: Offensive rebounding was one of the game's biggest storylines, if not the biggest, and North Carolina's persistence on the offensive glass proved decisive. The Tar Heels grabbed 13 of the 36 offensive boards available to them and turned them into 17 critical second-chance points. Meeks alone had five offensive rebounds.
