Monday night NC State’s neighbor, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earned its sixth men’s basketball national title, the third under head coach Roy Williams. It wasn’t a breeze, but the Tar Heels managed to pull away in the game’s final minutes, returning the title to North Carolina just two years after Duke won it all in 2015.
The Tar Heels’ opponent, the Gonzaga Bulldogs (37-2), appeared to be in control throughout the first half, holding a 35-32 lead at the break. UNC was shooting a season-low 30.6 percent from the field at this point and hit just two 3-pointers to the Zags’ five.
Things turned around quickly, however, in the second half as the Tar Heels took off on an 8-0 run. This was the beginning of a seesaw affair as Gonzaga countered with an 8-0 run of its own before UNC jabbed back with a 7-2 run. With 10 minutes left in the game, the teams were deadlocked at 47.
Neither team was able to pull away from the other as frequent foul calls prevented either from getting into rhythm. Both teams were in the midst of their worst shooting performances of the season — UNC was inept from outside the arc and Gonzaga could not find any space in the paint.
Senior Kennedy Meeks, the star of the Tar Heels’ Final Four matchup against Oregon (25 pts, 14 reb, 3 stl), did not dominate on offense the way he did in the previous round, but he completely shut down Bulldogs senior center Przemek Karnowski, the winningest player in college basketball history.
The 60-percent shooter was able to sink just one bucket on eight attempts and turned it over four times; it was his worst game of the season according to KenPom’s efficiency ratings. Meanwhile, freshman backup Zach Collins was in foul trouble all night, eventually fouling out with a little over five minutes remaining, leaving the Zags to rely on outside shooters.
Junior Nigel Williams-Goss, a player-of-the-year candidate, turned cold down the stretch though battling an apparent ankle injury and the Heels pulled away in the final minutes. A program mired by NCAA investigation for years has returned to its previous elite form and won a title just in time for some top contributors to move on to the NBA.
Meeks and sidekick Isaiah Hicks — who combined for 65 percent of the Heels frontcourt minutes this season will graduate. This loss will hit the Heels’ productivity hard on both sides of the ball as these two players were the main reasons the team ranked first in the country in offensive rebounding rate.
Tony Bradley, a freshman center who proved to be a key contributor off the bench, is also testing the NBA draft waters and, if he were to leave, UNC would have a big-man drought on its hands.
Junior small forward Justin Jackson is a potential lottery pick and appears likely to depart as well. Fortunately for the Heels, Final Four MVP junior guard Joel Berry should return and prevent the team from falling off the map.
Gonzaga is in stronger shape for next season, but its future is also in doubt until we find out who is declaring for the draft. If Williams-Goss returns for his senior season, the team will retain most of the parts that made it a top seed in the tournament. Karnowski will graduate but, if Collins opts not to go one-and-done, the Bulldogs will arguably be in better shape at center next season given how quickly the youngster has developed.
Among other teams that made it deep in the tournament, Baylor appears to be losing the least. The Bears, who reached the Elite Eight, graduate just one senior and they will have the firepower to match any team in the country if big-man Johnathan Motley returns.
This year’s Cinderella team, the South Carolina Gamecocks, are probably the least likely school to return to the Final Four next season. Senior Sindarius Thornwell was the heart and soul of this team and drove the production of its offense. Fortunately, the program makes its name on the defensive end of the floor and has the depth to soften the blow of this loss.
Among ACC teams, it’s anybody’s best guess who is in best position to win the conference. With so many potential NBA lottery picks in this group, the coming offseason should be somewhat of a roller-coaster ride.
