MEMPHIS, Tenn. _ From Murphy to Manteo and all parts in between, children in North Carolina will go to their driveways in the weeks and years to come and they'll stand to the left of the basket, a tie game in their imaginations, and they'll try to recreate what Luke Maye did on Sunday.
They'll be talking about North Carolina's 75-73 victory against Kentucky in the South Regional championship game, for a long, long time to come _ maybe for as long as the Tar Heels ever play basketball.
They'll talk about a game that had a little bit of everything _ floor slaps and screams, momentum swings and monumental shots, none of them more important than the one Maye made inside of the final second, his team's season hanging in the balance.
Moments after Kentucky's Malik Monk improbably tied the score at 73 with a long, contested 3-pointer, Maye, the Tar Heels' sophomore forward, made the shot of his life: a jumper from the left side, just inside the 3-point line, with three-tenths of a second left.
The officials took a look at it, just to see whether it was a 3-pointer or not. After determining that Maye was inside the 3-point line, Kentucky (32-6) had three-tenths of a second left. But the Wildcats' in-bounds pass sailed the length of the court and went out of bounds.
Seconds later, UNC's celebration began. The victory sends the Tar Heels to the Final Four for the 20th time. They will play against Oregon on Saturday night in a national semifinal in Glendale, Ariz.
Maye, who was so instrumental in UNC's 92-80 victory against Butler on Friday night in the regional semifinal, again played a starring role on Sunday. He finished with 17 points in 20 minutes off the bench, and he made six of his nine attempts from the field.
The last one is the one everyone will remember _ the one that will be replayed over and over, and reenacted in parks and playgrounds and driveways for weeks and months and maybe years to come. Maye's last-second shot was just a part of it, though.
The Tar Heels (31-7) trailed by five points with five minutes to play, and UNC coach Roy Williams then called a timeout. Not long ago, he said he'd only call those when he dislikes the look on his players' faces, and he didn't like their expressions when Kentucky led 64-59 with about five minutes remaining.
From there UNC scored 12 consecutive points. Theo Pinson, a junior forward, made two free throws during that stretch, and Joel Berry, a junior guard, made an important driving shot off the glass. Berry, a bit gimpy throughout, played through ankle pain but finished with 11 points.
UNC's lead grew as large as seven points with 54 seconds to play. By then it looked like the Tar Heels might escape in comfort. Not a chance, though. Kentucky's De'Aaron Fox made a 3-pointer to cut UNC's lead to four, and Monk, who scored 47 points against UNC the first time these teams played, back in December, made one of his own to cut Kentucky's deficit to 71-70 with 39 seconds remaining.
Junior forward/guard Justin Jackson, who led UNC with 19 points, made a layup on the other end to give the Tar Heels a three-point lead with 34 seconds remaining. And that set up Monk, again. His 3-pointer sent the Kentucky fans here into a state of delirium, and the shot tied the score at 73 with nine seconds left.
The Tar Heels didn't take a timeout then. There was no diagramming of a last-second play, no time to discuss strategy. Williams simply let his players play. Pinson brought the ball up the court _ eight seconds left, seven, six... _ and soon enough Maye had it in his hands, time running out.
He hesitated for a quick second and then jumped and released. The ball rotated toward the basket for a couple of moments as the FedEx Forum was quiet, almost silent. Then the shot fell in, and they'll be talking about it for a long, long time to come.
