North Carolina was in the same position it was a year before, a back-and-forth contest that was going to come down to the wire to decide the national championship. In 2016 the Tar Heels tied the game late, only to see their dream of a national title die at the hands of Kris Jenkins, whose buzzer beater that gave Villanova the title will go on to be replayed over and over every March. This year however was a different ending for the Tar Heels. Up 3 with about 20 seconds to go, Gonzaga had its best player, Nigel Williams Goss drive inside to attempt to get a and one and foul out North Carolina's big man Kennedy Meeks. Instead of another clutch shot against the Tar Heels, Meeks blocked the shot, outletted the ball, and found a wide open Justin Jackson for the dunk that would put the nail in the coffin, and give North Carolina its redemption from their close lose a year before in a 71-65 win over Gonzaga on Monday night in Glendale, Arizona. The Tar Heels were the most clutch team throughout the tournament, and is why they are the champions of college basketball.
North Carolina had to three times either comeback or hold on at the end to reach the final, needing a 9-0 run in the final 2 minutes to beat Arkansas in the second round, the shot of the tournament by Luke Maye to beat Kentucky in the Elite 8, and two clutch rebounds in the final 5 seconds to hold off a furious Oregon rally in the national semifinals. In the title game it was North Carolina having to rally, as the Tar Heels were down to Gonzaga at the half in part due to the Zags 56% shooting percentage from beyond the arc, and the inside presence of Karnowski and Zach Collins that were outrebounded the Carolina bigs, and creating a defensive presence inside that force Carolina to shoot the 3, of which they only shot 14% in the first half. The second half was a different story, as a mini spurt by the Tar Heels to start the half quickly put them back in front after being down by 3 at the half. Both teams largely went back and forth on free throws, as the team's shooting performances at times were so ugly it made ugly Betty look beautiful. The refs also called the game super tight, and had some questionable calls such as a flagrant on Karnowski with about 8 minutes left, and a missed call with about a minute left where Meeks' one hand was on the ball, the other on the baseline, a clear out of bounds call that would have given Gonzaga the ball down one, but the refs missed it and called a jump instead, keeping the ball with the Tar Heels.
Even with the game's ugliness some of the stars came out to shine, and some disappointed. Meeks had a couple big buckets in the half, and Jackson had the and one with a minute and a half to go, but the two stars could never get going for Carolina, as was the same with Gonzaga's Karnowski and Josh Perkins, who couldn’t back up his stellar first half play in the second. Gonzaga also struggled with foul trouble with all 3 of its big men, meaning at many times during the second half Mark Few couldn’t put his one two punch of Collins and Karnowski on the floor. Gonzaga will also be left to wonder what would have happened if Williams Goss, the team's best player on the night, was fully healthy at the end after tweaking his ankle on the second to last possession, and how they let a Joel Berry on two bad ankles score 22 points, giving him the MOP award. Carolina’s experience was finally too much for the less experienced Bulldogs, and it showed in the final three minutes.
After Goss made a bank shot to put Gonzaga up 2, the Tar Heels came right back and took it inside giving it to Jackson who drew a foul, made the basket, and the free throw. North Carolina also had a couple nice defensive possessions, and on their final full possession gave the ball to the senior Isaiah Hicks, who took it right at Gonzaga's trees to make the bucket, putting Carolina up 68-65. The Tar Heels team from a year ago knew they were now in basically the same shot they were in a year earlier when Jenkins made the three, and this time knew what they had to do. North Carolina forced the ball inside, away from the three point line, made the defensive play, got on the fast break, and sealed the program's sixth championship and hall of fame coach Roy Williams third, and with Jenkins in the crowd cheering for his cousin Nate Britt, who is on the Tar Heels, North Carolina’s redemption tour was complete, so sweet they wouldn’t have cared if the confetti never fell from the scoreboard at University of Phoenix stadium.
Both teams will lose some of its stars, as Jackson, Meeks, and Berry leave UNC, but will be replaced by another stellar freshman class next year, while Gonzaga will most likely lose Collins and for sure Karnowski and Jordan Matthews. Both teams however bring a fair amount back, making seeing these teams next year in San Antonio a reality, where Gonzaga will look for its own redemption that North Carolina is feeling right now.
