What an incredible battle to finish off the Elite 8.   The Tar Heels led for most of the game, but Kentucky went on a 17-6 run led by Isaac Humphries, who scored 8 of his 12 points, including a jumper that gave the Wildcats a 5 point lead with just 5 minutes left.   And Elizabeth and I could hear her father screaming all the way from North Carolina, “Call Time Out, Roy!”   And shockingly, a time out was actually called.

But just like in the Arkansas game, UNC went on a 12-0 run, led by Theo Pinson, who scored 6 of his 9 points and pulled down 3 critical defensive rebounds to give the Tar Heels a 71-64 lead with 54 seconds left.   You would figure that this was the end.

But De’Aaron Fox drilled a three pointer from the corner to reduce the lead to 4.   And then, Kentucky’s press forced a five second violation – which led to the Wildcats getting the ball to Malik Monk at the top of the key, where he hit an impressive three pointer to cut the lead to 1.

UNC managed to catch Kentucky over-defending with a baseball pass down the court to Justin Jackson, leading to a breakaway layup to extend the lead to 3.   Then, with 17 seconds left, UNC forced a jump ball to get the chance to ice the game.  UNC inbounded to Justin Jackson, but Jackson missed the front end of the one-and-one – giving Kentucky new life.

The Wildcats took advantage as they got the ball quickly to Malik Monk, who dribbled to the top of the key and hit the game tying three pointer with 10 seconds.   Most teams at this point would call timeout and try to set up a game winning play.   But not the Tar Heels – they inbounded the ball to Theo Pinson, who quickly dribbled up the court, into the lane, got the defense to collapse on him as he drove along the lane, and then kicked the ball out to a wide-open Luke Maye – who hit the jumper to give the Tar Heels a 75-73 victory.

And the Tar Heels survived an amazing comeback from the Kentucky Wildcats, and hit a buzzer-beater to punch their ticket to Phoenix.   The ACC champions North Carolina become the last team in the Final Four!!!!!!