MEMPHIS — With the nation's eyes on the next opponent, the North Carolina men's basketball team took care of Butler, 92-80, in Friday's Sweet 16 game at FedExForum to earn a berth in the Elite Eight.
What happened?
The No. 1 seed Tar Heels (30-7) and No. 4 seed Bulldogs (25-9) traded buckets for the first four minutes — UNC forcing the ball inside and Butler methodically finding space in the North Carolina defense.
But Joel Berry, fighting off an ankle injury and a poor shooting stretch, hit his first 3-point attempt of the night with 15:24 left to give UNC a four-point lead. And after a Butler three cut it to one, an Isaiah Hicks dunk sparked a 12-0 Tar Heel run.
North Carolina kept its foot on the gas, aided by three 3-pointers from sophomore forward Luke Maye — who scored a career-high 14 points in the first half alone. The Tar Heels hit 18 of their 34 shots (52.9 percent) in the opening period, including six of their first seven 3-pointers, and faced minimal resistance from Butler's zone defense.
The second half slowed to a crawl for both teams, as the Bulldogs clamped down on the 3-point line and UNC earned its way to the free-throw line. North Carolina's lead hovered around 20 points until the final minutes of the second half, when Butler narrowed the deficit to 10 points. But the Tar Heels survived the late surge and cruised to their second straight Elite Eight.
Who stood out?
Luke Maye picked the perfect time to have a career night from the floor.
The sophomore forward scored a career-high 16 points, including 14 in the first half, to guide a struggling UNC frontcourt. Two minutes after Isaiah Hicks picked up his second foul midway through the openign period, Maye hit two 3-pointers in 65 seconds to give his team a 16-point lead.
