UNC Basketball: The Biggest NCAA Tournament Moments under Roy Williams
By Chris Ward
2017
It wasn’t an easy path to the national championship game and the Tar Heels were truly tested in the Final Four.
But there were some big moments to help them achieve what they set out to do.
Offensive rebounds vs Oregon
The 2017 Final Four in Phoenix, Arizona brought in the No. 3 seed Oregon Ducks to face the Tar Heels.
The first half was a close one. Oregon was up eight at one point but UNC quickly closed the gap and took a three-point lead into halftime. Momentum was in North Carolina’s corner in the second half and they pushed their lead to 10 with 8:30 to go. After once again trading baskets Theo Pinson stepped up and pushed the lead to six with 57 seconds to go.
Oregon then quickly hit a three-pointer followed by a lay-up to bring the game within a point.
Kennedy Meeks (who had a monster game of 25 points and 14 rebounds) stepped up to the line with 5.2 seconds to go with a chance to put the Heels up three. Meeks missed both, but an incredible tip out by Theo Pinson got the ball to Joel Berry II a 77 percent free throw shooter, with four seconds left to again get UNC up three.
Berry also missed both, but an incredibly clutch rebound by Kennedy Meeks sealed the game and the trip to the championship for the Tar Heels.
Hicks shot-Meeks block-Berry pass-Jackson dunk
UNC was in for another battle if they wanted redemption but this time at the hands of the Gonzaga Bulldogs. After another hardly contested and back-and -forth game the Heels found themselves up one with 28 seconds left and Isaiah Hicks at the top of the key with the ball.
Two power dribbles and a shot off the backboard while hanging in the air, the Tar Heels were up three with Gonzaga inbounding the ball from the sideline after a timeout.
Nigel Williams-Goss spun to the foul line where he met Kennedy Meeks’ and had his shot blocked into Joel Berry’s hands. Berry saw a streaking Justin Jackson and hit him with a pass in stride that led to a dunk on the other end.
This put the Tar Heels up five with 11 seconds left. Gonzaga panicked to get the ball up the floor and threw it right to Kennedy Meeks. Meeks found Berry and Gonzaga sent him to the line with 7.2 seconds left.
Berry split the free throws and pushed the score to 71-65, the score the game would end at.
Redemption
After an entire year of seeing the Jenkins’ shot, it sure was tough to be a fan.
It’s tough to imagine what the team was going through. The well-known story of the Tar Heel players having a group chat named “redemption” was echoed for every game broadcast the entire season, but without the title, it would have been a fun story to eventually be forgotten.
The Tar Heels had lost their leader in Marcus Paige and their first team All-American in Brice Johnson. The team would almost certainly would take a step back in the eyes of the media and the casual fan.
Fans expectations were high, but in the back of many minds there were question marks throughout the roster. Can Justin Jackson make the next step? Can Isaiah Hicks stay out of foul trouble and stay in games long enough to make a difference? Is this team enough to get back?
On April 3rd all of these questions were answered with a resounding yes. As a fan this championship meant the most to me, a group without the top-tier talent and expectations of the teams in the past, but with the heart and drive to get their redemption.
As Jim Nantz said as the buzzer sounded, “they won’t be denied this time.”