No. 1 North Carolina is Berry, Berry lucky to be alive.
Up one point with 49 seconds remaining on the game clock, Tar Heel point guard Joel Berry II appeared to travel before colliding with an Arkansas defender en route to the basket on the right side. The referees swallowed their whistles, and Berry threw the ball up off the backboard. Carolina forward Kennedy Meeks (16 points) tipped the ball in for the putback to give Carolina a three-point lead. It was all that top-seeded Carolina would need in escaping No. 8 Arkansas, 72-65, to advance to the Sweet 16 after losing in the national championship game last season.
“It was a horrible shot on my part,” Berry said, “but I just tried my best to get it up on the backboard.”
Carolina coach Roy Williams added: “I even told (Arkansas coach) Mike (Anderson) that we were awfully lucky. I think we were.”
Carolina put Arkansas through 15 minutes of hell early on. The Tar Heels took an 8-0 lead that ballooned to 37-20. The Razorbacks rallied thereon, closing within five points by halftime. Arkansas pressed the Tar Heels, taking the lead on a Dustin Thomas jump shot with 13:05 remaining in the game, and Arkansas was on top, 65-60, with less than four minutes on the game clock. Carolina put the clamps on, and Arkansas could not muster a basket — be it from the field or the free throw line — in the final three minutes of action. Carolina finished the game on a 12-0 run.
“We came to dance, not to do the one step. We wanted to bust up some brackets here today,” Anderson said. “Close don’t get it done. But congratulations to North Carolina. They made the plays they had to. They got to the free-throw line an awful lot of times.”
Arkansas made 5 of 8 free throws. North Carolina made 19 of 25.
North Carolina, the top seed in the South Region, nearly joined Villanova, its opponent in the national championship game last season, among the opening weekend’s upsets. The near-loss came across its state border, in Greenville, S.C., but the Tar Heels will march on to Memphis to face fourth-seeded Butler on Friday.
Berry tweaked his ankle in the first round, and did not play the second half in that contest. Williams listed him as questionable before the Arkansas game, and Berry received treatment instead of practicing Saturday. He struggled at points against Arkansas. Berry managed to hit two of his eight attempts from beyond the arc. He finished with 10 points and 1 turnover. He entered the game averaging 14.5 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Tar Heels.
Sunday’s effort was enough to complement Meeks (16 points) and Justin Jackson (15 points). Williams maintained that his
team’s toughness greased the rails for luck in the end.
“You know what? Luck is — what’s that old saying — preparation meets opportunity,” he said. “And the guys stepped up and made some plays too.”
JAYHAWKS ROLL
Josh Jackson scored 14 of his 23 points in the second half to help Kansas pull away late and reach the Sweet 16 for a second straight year with a 90-70 victory over Michigan State in Tulsa, Okla.
Frank Mason III added 20 points for the top-seeded Jayhawks (30-4), who have advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament in nine of coach Bill Self’s 14 seasons. Devonte’ Graham added 18 points and Landen Lucas had 10 for the Jayhawks, who shot 53.1 percent (34 of 64) in the win.
Miles Bridges scored 22 points to lead Michigan State (20-15) despite leaving briefly in the first half with an injury.
