North Carolina got a little bit of a scare from Gonzaga, but the Tar Heels were able to use tight defense to earn the 6th championship in school history. Gonzaga used a hot start to jump out to a 35-32 lead at halftime, but thanks to terrible shooting after that, North Carolina climbed back to snag the lead, and ultimately the win. This tournament was the definition of a redemption tour for North Carolina following their heartbreaking finish to the 2016 tournament, when Villanova’s Kris Jenkins hit a buzzer beating three point shot to win the title. That’s about as demoralizing a loss a team could have, especially to finish a season. To bounce back and make a run to the championship after enduring that type of loss in the biggest game of the season is simply incredible.
Breakdown:
Joel Berry II, one of multiple seniors on the North Carolina squad, led the team with 22 points and 5 assists, and Justin Jackson, a junior likely to enter the NBA draft, added 16 points. Kennedy Meeks, coming off of a great game in the Final Four against Oregon, had only 7 points, and was in foul trouble early in the second half. Meeks was not the only one that had to deal with foul trouble on either side. In total, there were 44 fouls called against both teams, which prevented either team from getting into a great rhythm in the second half, and made the game very difficult to watch. Gonzaga shot 33% for the game, and their stars simply did not show up when it mattered most. Nigel Williams Goss finished with 15 points, but shot 5-17 from the field, and 4-8 from the free throw line. Przemek Karnowski, the senior center from Poland, finished with only 9 points and 9 rebounds, and like so many others, was in foul trouble throughout the second half. The Bulldogs had a one point lead with under a minute and a half left, but were thwarted by a perfectly timed 8-2 run by North Carolina that clinched the championship. Lumped into that run was an and one by Justin Jackson, as well as a fast break dunk by Jackson that was set up by a block by Kennedy Meeks that essentially sealed the win.
North Carolina could very well make a deep run next season, but they do lose multiple seniors, including Berry II and Meeks, as well as potentially losing rising senior Justin Jackson, so it might be a long season in Chapel Hill. Gonzaga also loses multiple upper classmen, but they return guys like Josh Perkins and Zack Collins who could be next up in the West Coast Conference dynasty that Mark Few created and has continued to sustain.