NORTH CAROLINA 77, OREGON 76
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- North Carolina missed the shots. No surprise there.
Kennedy Meeks saved the game. No surprise there, either.
Meeks, the only Tar Heel who could shoot straight Saturday night, grabbed the game-saving offensive rebound in a 77-76 victory over Oregon after ice cold Carolina missed its fourth consecutive free throw down the stretch.
It was all part of a career night for the North Carolina senior, who was on the bench last year when Villanova devastatingly ended the Tar Heels' chance at a title with a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Against Oregon, Meeks was front and center. He finished 11 for 13 to match his career high with 25 points. He also had 14 rebounds, eight on the offensive end and none more important than the last one, which secured a Monday night date with Gonzaga in the championship game.
"If it wasn't for Kennedy Meeks, we wouldn't have been in the basketball game," Carolina Coach Roy Williams said.
Meeks had plenty to mop up.
The rest of his team shot a 14 for 55 from the floor (25.5 percent). Justin Jackson was one of the few to break through. He had 22 points on 6-for-13 shooting and made three 3-pointers and two free throws to help the Heels to a double-digit lead and put them on the verge of a runaway midway through the second half.
Given the late lead and Oregon's own awful shooting (37.9 percent), losing this one might have felt every bit as bad as the Villanova loss last year for North Carolina (33-6) which led the entire second half and appeared poised several times for a knockout of the Ducks (32-7).
After Keith Smith's layup pulled Oregon within one with seven seconds left it came down to free throws.
First, Meeks got fouled, stepped to the line and rimmed out two. Theo Pinson got inside and batted the ball back out to Joel Berry II, who then got fouled with four seconds left.
Berry missed both, too. But Meeks outmuscled Jordan Bell for that final rebound and threw it outside, ensuring the Tar Heels their date Monday night with Gonzaga.
"My main focus was, if Joel missed the second free throw, to hit the offensive glass hard," Meeks said.
That it came down to Carolina winning the rebound battle was no big surprise. This was the best rebounding team in the country this season, grabbing an average of 13 more than their opponents this season.
Against the Ducks, the rebounding was even (43 each), though North Carolina got five more on the offensive end, which resulted in 19 second-chance points, 10 more shots and, eventually, the victory.
"We talk and work on little things all the time," Williams said. "You're trying to tip it out or get a rebound. We do work on those things we do talk about those things."
Not that Oregon was lighting it up, either. The Ducks went 3 for 18 from three-point range in the second half and had a stretch of nearly six minutes late where they did not make a shot from the floor.
Tyler Dorsey led Oregon with 21 points but scored more from the free-throw line (12) than from three-point range (9), where he came in shooting 65 percent in the tournament.
Pinson made his first three-pointer of the tournament and had the first timely offensive rebound. He finished with eight points and eight boards.
The Tar Heels were happy afterward. But boy did they make it interesting.
"I feel very lucky but that's OK," Williams said. "We're one of only two teams playing Monday night."
Sports on 04/02/2017