Another Maye day: Former walk-on helps North Carolina reach Final Four

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Photo Source: The Sports Post

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tormented for a calendar year by the insanity a final few seconds can produce, North Carolina found ecstasy in them Sunday afternoon.

The loopy conclusion of the South Region final both provided an immediate heal to a festering wound and kept alive the ultimate opportunity to salve an unbearable sting. It delivered wrenching agony momentarily and then produced thrilling joy, a new set of memories about a last-second sequence to counter the anguish of another.

North Carolina sophomore Luke Maye, a former walk-on from Huntersville, North Carolina, concluded a batty final minute by draining a shot with his foot on the three-point line with 0.3 seconds on the clock, providing the only distance between the top-seeded Tar Heels and No. 2 Kentucky, which will grow familiar with the pain with which North Carolina left last year’s national championship. Carolina 75, Kentucky 73 will live in very different parts of the minds of two storied fan bases.

The end unspooled in a series of crashing waves. North Carolina fumbled a seven-point lead with less than a minute remaining. Kentucky’s incandescent backcourt, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk, combined for three three-pointers in the last 50 seconds. Monk’s last dagger came on a fadeaway from the top of the arc with only eight seconds left.

And then the Tar Heels rushed down the floor, desperate and scrambling. Theo Pinson pushed the ball up the floor as Maye curled to the left wing. He caught a pass and hoisted a jumper. The ball splashed through the net, and Maye screamed, perhaps with the knowledge he will never purchase a beer in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for the remainder of his days. The last two points gave him 17, a new career high for the second straight game.

Having flipped a five-point deficit into a seven-point lead with a 12-0 run, the Tar Heels appeared poised to coast into a Final Four matchup with Oregon, the champion of the Midwest. Kentucky would not yield. Fox, the lefty, electric freshman point guard, drained a three-pointer pointer from the left corner. The Wildcats forced inbounder Kennedy Meeks into a five-second call, breathing yet more life into a desperate cause.

Monk, contained all game by the lanky defense of Justin Jackson, came open for a three-pointer and swished it from the top of the arc. Suddenly, UNC’s party had become a struggle, and the Heels led by just one.

Jackson broke away for a layup, a stabilizer to widen the gap back to three. The Heels stopped the Wildcats, Maye forcing a jump ball after a mad scramble. The possession tilted their way, and Jackson, who scored a game-high 19, had a chance to salt away the game. His free throw bricked off the front rim. Kentucky whooshed down the floor, and Monk knotted it. But only for a moment, only before Maye could create a new sensation for North Carolina.

North Carolina lost the national title last year when Villanova’s Kris Jenkins, in response to Marcus Paige’s flying, legs-splayed three-pointer, drained a three at the horn. Jenkins sat behind the North Carolina bench Sunday, their tormentor turned into a specter because of his close relationship with point guard Nate Britt.

This March, as the anniversary approaches, has allowed ample opportunity to relive. Replays of Jenkins’s shot have adorned televisions, popping up at any moment throughout the tournament. Having spent the majority of the month as a unit, the viewings have prompted frequent doses of collective torment.

“You don’t really want to watch it,” Tar Heels assistant C.B. McGrath said.

“We’ve gotten used to seeing it,” Britt said, “but we’re not used to the feeling.”

“As soon as it went in, it was just heartbreaking, just knowing that you don’t have any more time to be able to go out there and compete again,” Berry said. “It was two teams standing, and then as soon as that shot went in, it was only one team.”

Villanova’s hero is uniquely present for the Heels. Jenkins attended Sunday’s game and sat in the front row behind North Carolina’s bench in support of Britt, whom he has known all his life and lived with while he attended Gonzaga High. They consider each other brothers. On a summer visit to Chapel Hill, Jenkins played pick-up with the Heels he agonized.

“Kris knows it’s always too soon to bring that up,” Britt said. “My feelings haven’t changed about it, at all.”

Now, they have a new shot to talk about, and North Carolina has a new hero named Luke Maye. Carolina snipped the nets and danced on the FedEx Forum court. As the players floated off the court, a sound emerged from the corner. It sounded like joy. It sounded like this: “Luuuukkkee!”

(c) 2017, The Washington Post ยท Adam Kilgore

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