By Terry Davis, Special to The New Tri-State Defender
Butler did its Bulldogs thing, showing dogged determination down to the end but it wasn’t nearly enough to stop North Carolina’s Tar Heels from moving on to the Elite Eight in their quest for a Final Four berth.
Jumping on Butler early, North Carolina dominated Butler 92-80 to advance to the South Regionals Final that will be played on Sunday at the FedExForum. And yes, that anticipated rematch with Kentucky is going to happen, with the Wildcats moving on after stopping UCLA in the second of the two Sweet Sixteen games played in Memphis on Saturday.
By halftime, the Tar Heels were up by 16 (52-36) after a blistering shooting performance from deep range and owning the rebound advantage.
“We feel fantastic being here,” North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said, foreshadowing what he had to say next.
“I was a little frustrated with the way we played in the middle of the second half. First half we shot the ball great, make a bunch of threes; second half, we’re 1 for 7. Sometimes it’s fool’s gold, but we were sensational shooting the ball in the first half.”
Justin Jackson led the way for North Carolina scoring 17 first half points en route to 24 for the game. Luke Maye scored 14 of his 16 points before the break. Joel Berry II scored 10 of his game-high 26 points in the opening half.
The Bulldogs were led by Andrew Chrabascz. After turning in 11 points and 3 rebounds in the first half, he finished with 21 points and seven boards. Butler trailed by as many as 20 points on multiple occasions but just kept plugging.
The Bulldogs’ head coach Chris Holtmann was asked what he could take from the just concluded season into the next.
“I think we’ll be reminded of the things that helped us achieve what we achieved,” said Holtmann, “a 4 seed, a Sweet 16 berth. I think there’s some really good moments that we need to reflect on as what allowed us to do that.
“We had a very unselfish group, a group that was agenda-less, and a talented group. And when you have those pieces, I think that allows you to do some things. We’re fortunate to be a part of a program that’s used to tremendous success, and a terrific basketball culture, and hopefully we can continue it.”
For North Carolina, now comes Kentucky. In a brief reference to the earlier game this year, Williams said, “Needless to say, we played Kentucky, and they scored three more points than we did, and we didn’t play very well on the defensive end, and Malik (Monk) lit us up for 47.”
A last-second shot tripped up the Tar Heels in last season’s NCAA National Championship game and Berry said that memory was “a little motivation” for the current push toward the Final Four.
“We got to where we wanted to get, we just didn’t finish it.”
NOTES:
The Butler Bulldogs held a 3-2 advantage in wins over the North Carolina Tar Heels before the Sweet 16 matchup. Butler had won the last two game played on a neutral court. The last time the two teams met Butler defeated North Carolina 74-66 on December 26, 2014 in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Former University of Memphis guard Avery Woodson started for Butler, finishing with eight points, all in the second half.
