Sunday, March 29, 2009

Villanova would be next for UNC

If UNC can get past Oklahoma on Sunday, Villanova will be waiting in the Final Four. That's a good sign for the Tar Heels. UNC beat Nova in the tournament in 2005 and 1982.

What do those years have in common?

Scottie Reynolds' runner with 0.5 seconds left lifted the Wildcats to a 78-76 win over Pittsburgh and a spot in the Final Four for the first time since 1985.

Nova, the third seed in the East Regional, almost let the top-seeded Panthers steal the win late. Levance Fields' free throws with 5.5 seconds left tied the game at 76, after Pitt had trailed by four in the final minute.

Reynolds took the inbounds pass and darted up the right sideline and then cut into the lane for a hanging 5-footer over Pitt's defense.

Nova beat American in the first round, UCLA in the second and Duke in the third to get back to the Final Four. The Wildcats have tournament history with the Tar Heels. They almost beat the Heels in 2005, losing 67-66 in the Sweet 16 on a late traveling call.

UNC beat Villanova in the regional final in 1982 and in the second round in 1991.

Of course, the Heels presence could be a good omen for the Wildcats. Nova's national title in 1985 went through UNC in the regional final. -- J.P. Giglio

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gotta get by Oklahoma, first. My pick - Oklahoma!

Anonymous said...

What happens when UNC-Chapel Hill loses and the Observer has nothing else to write about?

I moved to the Charlotte region 4 months ago, and because of the UNC promotionalism I thought Chapel Hill was a Charlotte suberb until I finally looked at a map.

Is someone at the Observer also on the staff of UNC-Chapel Hill? It seems like it. It's also funny that when I did a Google search on "UNC", it brough up the entire UNC System.

Anonymous said...

J.P., I think you mean Nova was CHEATED out of the win vs. Carolina in '05 when the refs called a BS travel that didn't happen.

That was even a more bogus call than the "jump-ball" against VT.