UNC Basketball: Roy Williams comments on win over Kentucky
North Carolina tops Kentucky, advances to Final Four
In December, North Carolina was on the losing end of what was arguably college basketball’s best game of the season.
In that game, the Kentucky Wildcats beat the Tar Heels by a score of 103-100 behind 47 points from freshman phenom Malik Monk.
In a turn of events that just about nobody would have predicted, Monk was a minor factor in the second meeting, hampered with foul trouble in the first half and scoring just 12 points for the game.
Luke Maye, however, scored 17 points for the Tar Heels, including the game-winner with just 0.3 seconds remaining on the clock. The shot gave North Carolina a 75-73 lead and ultimately sent them to the Final Four in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2008 and 2009.
After the game, head coach Roy Williams talked about beating Kentucky, returning to the Final Four, the locker room celebration and Luke Maye’s huge, huge shot.
"“Well, it’s a fantastic feeling right now,” Williams told reporters in his post game press conference. “Second half we got off to a bad start, turned it over a couple times, they made shots, and all of a sudden they tie the score, and we make two or three shots and get back up. And then it was hit or miss all the way down the stretch, and then all of a sudden we’re five down. And we had the time-out and I told them the same thing it was against Arkansas. I told them at that time it was going to be good for us, and I felt like it would be good for us today. What we had to do is we had to play. Got to get a great shot. Theo made a tough shot, a runner on the baseline, far across from our bench, and then Justin made a tough one, and believe it or not, we went zone, just tried to see if we could give them a different look. They were getting too much dribble penetration, and two or three possessions, and they didn’t score, and we make some good plays.Luke Maye was sensational in making baskets for us, made the big pass down court to Justin for the lay-up. Theo made some big free throws, Luke made some big free throws, and we’re still sitting here.They scored it, tied, we always say if it’s more than six seconds attack, we’re going to attack, we’re not going to call a time-out. It was 7.2, I think, when they scored and I was just screaming go, go, go. And Theo goes down the court and finds Luke, and Luke made a big-time shot. We played them twice this year, and it went down to the last few seconds both times. One of them was a scoring offensive game. Today was an ugly game, but we made enough shots at the end.Feel great for these kids, and didn’t know anything about this water routine in the locker room, so right now I’m soaking wet, but it’s the best dad-gum bath I’ve ever had with my clothes on.”"
Williams was asked if the final play was designed or simply one that he allowed his guys to play out to see what the defense would allow them to get on the offensive end of the court.
"“A little bit of both,” Williams said. “As I said earlier, if it’s six seconds or more, we try to push. If it’s five seconds or less, we’ll call a time-out. I had a time-out left, but I like to try to score in the open court, and we practice that way every day. Believe it or not, we have practices where we play with a 15-second shot clock because I want them to push the ball hard enough to get a great shot in 15 seconds, not just throw it up.We’ve won a few games like that. I’ve been around a long time, and we do try to push, and Theo made a heck of a play. I was really glad the ball went to him because I didn’t know how hard Joel would be able to push.”"
Of course, redemption is frequently a topic of conversation. And if it’s redemption that the Tar Heels seek, they’re just two wins away from it.
"“You know, last year was a heartbreaker to say the least,” Williams said. “And to have someone like Marcus make that kind of shot, I even told Michael Jordan after the game, I said, if we’d have gotten it into overtime, your shot to beat Georgetown would not have been the most famous shot in basketball history at North Carolina any longer. So it was a heartbreaking thing, but you have to congratulate Villanova. They made a big time play, and it doesn’t help your hurt any.And I did try to challenge the kids in the locker room that night to later in the next couple of weeks — Isaiah Hicks tried to take blame for the shot, and it wasn’t even his man that he was trying to help somebody else guard. One of the few times, maybe the only time, I’ve ever had a post-season press conference like that, but I did it because Isaiah was taking the blame. That just tells you the kind of kids that I have.As coaches, we’re really lucky a lot. I was lucky to have the group that I had last year, and it hurt a great deal. I still have never watched the game; probably never will watch the game. So I wanted them to get back because so many of these guys played in that game, and you may have heard me say before, the most inadequate feeling I’ve ever had as a coach was what to say to my kids in the locker room that night.So for those reasons, yes, but it’s not just redemption. I had a neat thing because Marcus Paige Face-Timed Eric Hoots, and so I yelled at Marcus a little bit off the court there, and he was so happy for us. But I’m really happy for this team and the work that they’ve put in, the toughness that they’ve shown, and they’re just — they’re wonderful kids.”"
Related Story: Luke Maye named Most Outstanding Player
Check back with Keeping It Heel for continued coverage of the North Carolina Tar Heels and their trip to the 2017 Final Four.