Saturday, March 26, 2005
The Tar Heels won 67-66 to advance to Sunday's regional championship.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- With a valiant underdog pushing North Carolina to the limit and point guard Raymond Felton on the bench, the Tar Heels desperately needed a leader.
They found one in Rashad McCants, as the often-criticized forward delivered nine points in 2 minutes, 36 seconds Friday night to spark the top-seeded Tar Heels to a 67-66 victory against No. 5 seed Villanova at the Carrier Dome.
McCants scored all but two of North Carolina's 11 straight points to break a 50-50 tie. A five-point North Carolina lead had evaporated within 62 seconds after Felton went to the bench with four fouls with 8:26 remaining.
Backup point guard Quentin Thomas was immediately called for a charging foul, and was replaced by Melvin Scott after 15 seconds.
Scott was called for a foul on Kyle Lowry's three-point play that tied the score at 50-50 with 7:24 remaining. But Scott broke Villanova's press and got the ball to McCants in front of the North Carolina bench for a tie-breaking 3-pointer.
Last run for Wildcats
McCants took control of the ball and got to the foul line to make six free throws to spark an 11-0 run that left Villanova (24-8) scrambling. The Wildcats made one last run, drawing within 64-62 on a Randy Foye free throw with 40 seconds remaining.
But Scott made two free throws with 28.9 seconds to go, and North Carolina (30-4) will play No. 6 seed Wisconsin in the regional final Sunday.
During a timeout in the second half, the video message board in the Carrier Dome flashed congratulations to each of the Division I champions the NCAA has crowned this season. North Carolina's hopes of joining those teams remained alive, thanks to McCants.
North Carolina missed its first five 3-point attempts and fell behind early. Villanova guards Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry wasted no time demonstrating the quickness that helped the Wildcats win 10 of their last 11 entering the game.
Foye made four 3-pointers and scored 17 points in the first half, and Lowry made a 15-footer that increased Villanova's lead to 21-9 with 11:50 to play in the half. But the Wildcats didn't have an answer for North Carolina center Sean May in the post as he scored 12 on 5-for-6 from the field before halftime.
Tight defense
Led by Felton, the Tar Heels tightened up their defense to hold Villanova without a field goal over the last 6:03 of the half. May, who had two fouls, stood up from his seat on the bench and waved a towel to inspire his teammates.
After trailing 30-19, North Carolina closed to within 33-29 at halftime with the help of 3-pointers by Felton and Marvin Williams.
North Carolina tied it at 35-35 with consecutive 3-pointers by Felton and McCants, but nobody could gain more than a five-point lead for most of a seesaw second half. Villanova led 42-37, but Williams scored on a rebound and made two free throws as the Tar Heels scored the next seven.
The Tar Heels stretched the lead to 50-45 on two McCants free throws, but Villanova soon tied it.