most of thoThe moment will be etched into basketball history.
After Marcus Paige tied the NCAA Tournament National Championship game with a double-clutch 3-pointer, Villanova drew up the perfect play. Ryan Arcidiacono drove up the length of the floor with about seven seconds left and dropped the ball off behind him to Kris Jenkins well behind the 3-point line. He let fly and made history, delivering Villanova a 77-74 victory over North Carolina at NRG Stadium in Houston for Villanova’s first national championship since the “perfect game” in 1985.
It was a disappointing and incredible ending to the college basketball season. The Tar Heels could only walk off the floor in disappointment, thinking about what could have been.
And an Orlando native could have been one of the big heroes.
Lake Highland alumnus Joel Berry scored 20 points, making all four of his 3-pointers, for the Tar Heels nearly leading his team to the national championship. Berry scored most of those points in the first half as North Carolina led by five entering halftime.
Berry told ESPN he believed if the game had gone to overtime, the Tar Heels would have won. They needed something of a comeback to tie the game and come seven seconds away from the extra period.
That is how sports can go sometimes. It is one of the best and most unexpected finishes in college basketball history. One of the great moments.
Now the perpetual powers in North Carolina will have to regroup. Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson are graduating and that could mean Berry will take a step up in his role for his junior season.
Berry averaged 12.6 points and 3.8 assists per game. He will be North Carolina’s top returning scorer next year. The Tar Heels will undoubtedly bring in some big-name recruits and be reloaded and ready to go in 2017.
Unfortunately for Berry and North Carolina, the team will have to wait a year for that opportunity.
