MEMPHIS, Tenn. _ In the moment, nobody in the North Carolina locker room could appreciate what they'd been a part of that Saturday in Las Vegas. Nobody wanted to appreciate it, either. There was no solace in defeat and no admiration of the performance, regardless of the quality of the drama.
The Tar Heels' 103-100 defeat against Kentucky on Dec. 17 is remembered, perhaps, as the best college basketball game that has been played this season. Back then, though, it left UNC coach Roy Williams wondering how well he might be able to move amid the exhaustion.
"John right now could run a marathon," Williams said that day of Kentucky coach John Calipari. "And I can barely get up out of the dadgum chair. But that's what happens when one guy wins and one guy loses."
Even then, weeks before the start of conference play, long before UNC (30-7) and Kentucky (32-5) began to navigate the most difficult portions of their schedules, those that shaped these teams for March runs that were to come, there was a sense that maybe that was only the beginning. That these teams could meet again.
And so here we are, the encore: UNC-Kentucky, Part II, in the NCAA Tournament South Regional championship game Sunday at 5:05 p.m. A trip to the Final Four at stake. Isn't it fitting, given the history? There is the long-term history, the stuff that requires turning the pages of the record books for perspective.
Kentucky has won more college basketball games (2,239) than any other school, while UNC (with 2,203 victories) is third. UNC has played in more Final Fours (19) than any other school, while Kentucky (17) is third.
The Wildcats have won eight national championships, which is second to UCLA. UNC has won five, which is tied for third with Duke and Indiana. There are the revered coaching luminaries that still define these programs: Adolph Rupp. Dean Smith. Kentucky and UNC play in buildings named after those men.
There is all of that. And then there is the more recent history, too. There is what happened in December.
