Hicks Hits the Clutch Bucket, North Carolina Captures National Championship

Apr 4, 2017
2 min read

Wow, game of a lifetime. One you couldn’t have missed. It came down to the wire but UNC captured the National Championship on Monday Night. This makes 6 in school history and 3 under Roy Williams. Some call it a bounce back win for the Heels, I call it all the magic of March Madness. Thoughts about this game surrounding the sports world are all different. Some believe the zebras played a big part as well as poor offense and no rhythm for both teams. You should figure out why all these things came into play by the end of the read.

Who could forget last year’s National Championship between North Carolina and Villanova. Kris Jenkins at the buzzer, UNC goes home. This season for Carolina was all about redemption, and they knew coming in, they had it. This year in the National Championship was different, the Heels knew they had to own the moments.

The first thing we should point out is that game wide, North Carolina, a team known for 3’s, shot 15 percent from 3 point. Joel Berry II making the only three for the Heels. Second thing we should say is that the Zebras called 44 team fouls combined, and 52 free throws were taken combined between the two teams. Gonzaga struggled holding on to the ball, they had 14 turnovers throughout the game, Carolina only with 2 each half.

All first half was back and forth play. The turning points of the game all came in the second half when both teams got into foul trouble. Gonzaga’s big men was the problem. It all started when Zach Collins fouled out with 5:03 left. Yup, 5:03 left. Leaving only Karnowski who had 4 at the time as well as Williams who also had 4 fouls. At the time, North Carolina had led by 6. 8 straight points by Nigel Williams Goss for Gonzaga gave the Zags at 2-point lead with 1:52 left. Then, Jackson found his mark for the Heels, hitting the 3 with 1:40 left to give the Heels a 1-point lead. On the next offensive possession for Gonzaga, Williams-Goss twisted his already hurt ankle and couldn’t not elevate to his usual height to hit the jumper. Isiah Hicks made his presence known when he hit the basket to push the Carolina lead to 3. A huge block by Meeks and a kick to Jackson for the dunk led to a Carolina championship. The craziest moment of the game came when Berry got called for a foul which was a clean steal (in my mind), going back and looking at it, would lead to a Flagrant 1 on Karnowski who failed to strip the ball, but almost chocked Berry from behind.

“I think of Coach (Dean) Smith, but I don’t think I can be either referred in the same sentence. But the only thing I care about right now is my guys.”

This ends the College Basketball Season, but not to worry, Upstate Sports Zone will be releasing our College Basketball Player of the Year later this week so stay tuned for that. For continued coverage of NCAAM, stay with Upstate Sports Zone… @upstate_sports

By Jake Martino

For more NCAAM coverage, head over to www.upstatesportszone.com/ncaam