The matchups for the NCAA Final Four in Glendale, Ariz. are set. Gonzaga will play South Carolina at 6:09 EDT. North Carolina will play Oregon 40 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

Hopefully, the games will live up to the gold standard set at the South Region in Memphis this weekend when freshman point guard De”Aaron Fox scored 39 points as Kentucky won an emotional 85-77 game over high scoring UCLA in the Friday semi-finals, then lost a heart breaking 75-73 game to North Carolina in the Elite Eight Sunday that was reminiscent of the 103-102 overtime loss to Duke in the same round in 1992.

This time, the role of Christian Laettner was played by Luke Maye, the Tar Heels’ 6-8 sophomore walk on forward, who made a game winning 18-foot jump shot to the right of the arc with just 0.3 seconds left in regulation to put an end to an epic battle between two of the heavyweight programs in college basketball.

Maye, who had never scored more than 13 points in a game before this weekend, finished with 17 off the bench. He will be always remembered as a hero in Carolina basketball lore, much like Michael Jordan, who became an instant legend when he made a game winning jump shot from the corner with 16 seconds to give the Heels’ a 63-62 national championship victory over Georgetown in 1981 at New Orleans.

It came right after Kentucky’s freshman guard Malik Monk, who had scored 47 points when the Cats beat Carolina, 103-100, earlier this season in Vegas, tied the game, 73-73, on a spectacular three point jump shot with defenders in his face with 7.2 seconds to play. North Carolina coach Roy Williams has a rule for his team. If there are more than six seconds, attack. As soon as Monk’s shot went in, he started screaming, “Go, go, go.”

In best case scenario for Kentucky, John Calipari would have immediately called timeout to set up his defense and prevent Carolina from getting the ball into the open floor. He admits he thought about it. But Carolina in bounded the ball too quickly and raced the ball up the floor to set up Maye’s shocking game winner. “When Malik’s three went in and tied the game, I probably should have called a time-out,” he admitted. “It entered my mind, but they got that son-of-a-b in so quick. But I needed to stop that right there. Someone said,”‘Well, what happened?’

“I said, I don’t know’ and I probably will never know because I won’t watch this tape. I never watch the last game of the season. I’ve watched enough tapes all year. Watched a thousand tapes. I’m not watching a thousand and one.”

Maye, whose father Mark played quarterback for the Tar Heels in the 80’s, most likely won’t be able to avoid it. The tape may be on a continuous loop on Tobacco Road as the Tar Heels celebrate their record 20th trip to the Final Four.
“They made a big three,” Maye said. “Monk hit it over my hand, and then (wing) Theo (Pinson) just drove down court and kind of was penetrating towards the basket and kind of picked my man a little bit. And I just kind of stepped back and he gave me the ball, and I just shot it, and luckily, it went in. It was a great feeling. I thank my teammates and my coach for putting me in that situation. I was just blessed to have this opportunity.”

Kentucky had one last chance but forward Derek Willis’ deep in bounds pass flew out of bounds at the other end and Williams could finally exhale.

“We played them twice this year, and it went down to the last few seconds both times,” he said. “One of them was a high scoring, offensive game. This was an ugly game, but we made enough shots at the end.”

Junior forward Justin Jackson led North Carolina with 19 points and lead guard Joel Berry II added 11 on a sprained left ankle. The Tar Heels had a big edge on the boards, out rebounding Kentucky, 44-34 and outscoring the Cats in the paint, 34-26. They also held the Cats’ three foul plagued freshman stars in check Bam Adebayo and Fox each had 13 points for the Cats and Monk, who was limited in his touches by the
taller Jackson, had 12 on 10 shots.

Fox and Adebayo wept side by side in the locker room.

“That shot is just playing back and forth in my head,” Fox said. “:It’s going to be difficult to get over.”

The officials didn’t help the flow of the game, with Adebayo, Monk and Fox picked up two fouls apiece in the first half. Fox played only eight minutes in the first after picking up his second with 12:23 left. A frustrated 6-10 Adebayo missed all five of his shots in the half. “You know, it’s amazing that we were in the game where they practically fouled out my team,” Calipari said. “Amazing we had a chance.”

The Cats rallied from five points down in the final 46 seconds. But they couldn’t make that one last shot.

This latest victory gives the Tar Heels hope for redemption after Kris Jenkins’ made game winning three point shot at the buzzer last year to give Villanova a 77-74 victory over North Carolina in the 2016 national championship game at Houston. Survive and advance.

“We get to keep playing,” Williams said. “I feel great for these kids. I 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.”