March Madness: Luke Maye knocks down game-winner to lift UNC past Kentucky

The North Carolina Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four for a second straight year following their dramatic victory over the Kentucky Wildcats in March Madness’ Elite Eight.

Sophomore Luke Maye closed out a season-best performance with the biggest shot of his college career to date, knocking down a long two-point shot from the wing with 0.3 seconds to go. That long two gave North Carolina a 75-73 victory over Kentucky and a spot in the 2017 Final Four.

Related Story: South Carolina dancing all the way to the Final Four

Maye made 6-of-9 shots, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, for a career-high 17 points. Maye has tallied 33 points and grabbed 15 rebounds over the last two games.

Justin Jackson had a game-high 19 points to go along with five boards and four dimes to lead the way for the Tar Heels. Joel Berry II added 11 points while Kennedy Meeks pulled down a career-best 17 rebounds for the Heels.

Trailing 64-59, North Carolina (31-7) scored 12 unanswered points during a 4-minute 13-second stretch to take control of the game. But Kentucky (32-6) wouldn’t go away easily.

Freshman De’Aaron Fox canned a three-pointer to cut the deficit to 71-67 with 47 seconds remaining. Following a Wildcat timeout, Meeks couldn’t inbound the ball in the required five seconds, causing a turnover. Malik Monk subsequently hit a triple to get Kentucky within 71-70 with 40 seconds remaining.

With Kentucky in a full-court man-to-man press, Jackson released long and beat Fox down the court, receiving a baseball pass from Maye. As Fox was measuring up Jackson, the Tar Heel stopped on a dime and Fox flew by. Jackson easily laid the ball in the basket.

On the very next possession, Monk drove to the rim dropping the ball to big man Bam Adebayo but UNC forward Theo Pinson deflected the ball away. Maye dove on the ball to tie Adebayo up. The Tar Heels received the ball with 17 seconds on the clock due to alternating possession.

Following a Jackson missed free throw, Isaiah Briscoe pushed the ball up the right side of the floor. Once he got to three-point line, Monk circled behind him for a dribble hand-off and drained a three-pointer with two defenders right in his face to knot up the game.

Pinson received the inbounds pass on the right side of the floor with 7.2 ticks showing and raced down the court. Pinson drove left and got into the lane before Fox cut him off. He then kicked the ball out to Maye for a wide open look.

Ball game. Game. Set. Match.

The game got off to a sloppy start with teams playing tentative. As a result, the teams combined to commit 11 turnovers and 20 fouls.

North Carolina scored the first six points and led for the entire first half. With UNC up 20-17, Jackson scored eight points in a 3-minute 14-second span to extend the Tar Heels lead a 31-22 lead with 6:56 left. Kentucky responded with an 11-7 spurt to get within 38-33 with 1:58 to go in the half. Neither team scored over the final 1:58.

Fox and Adebayo each had 13 points to lead Kentucky. Monk and Isaac Humphries chipped in 12 points while Dominique Hawkins had 10. Briscoe had seven points and eight boards, as well as three steals.

Next: Three takeaways for UNC-Kentucky

North Carolina will play the second Final Four game against Oregon in Phoenix on April 1. South Carolina will face off against Gonzaga in the first game at 6:09 p.m. (ET).