ACC Has a Elite One

Villanova delivered the inspired performance it needed Friday night to challenge formidable North Carolina in a Syracuse Regional semifinal.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, however, the Tar Heels were still better, barely.

North Carolina withstood Villanova’s furious rally down the stretch, and benefited from an official’s controversial call in the final 10 seconds, holding on for a 67-66 victory in front of 30,916 at the Carrier Dome.

Top-seeded North Carolina (30-4) almost squandered an 11-point lead with less than five minutes remaining against fifth-seeded Villanova (24-8), which played without injured forward Curtis Sumpter, its top rebounder and second-leading scorer.

The Tar Heels overcame a sluggish start, the Wildcats’ hot shooting at the outset and point guard Raymond Felton’s foul trouble in the final nine minutes, advancing to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2000, which was also the last time they reached the Final Four.

North Carolina faces sixth-seeded Wisconsin on Sunday for the regional championship and a berth in its record 16th Final Four.

After two blowout victories in the NCAA tournament, the Tar Heels had a rough time against the Wildcats.

“Well, needless to say, we feel as good, we feel as fortunate as we can possibly feel,” North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said. “It wasn’t pretty, it was a hairy game there at the end, no question about that.

“We needed to find a way. That’s what we did.”

Without Sumpter, Villanova started a four-guard lineup, spread the floor and utilized its quickness. The Wildcats led by as many as 12 in the first half, and the Tar Heels realized they were in for a fight.

“Coach told us all year long that we weren’t going to score 80, 90 points all year long and win every game by 20,” swingman Rashad McCants said. “He told us there were going to be tough games like this where we needed to find a way.”

McCants was part of the solution, scoring 17 points to lead four North Carolina players in double figures.

He took command late in the second half while Felton was on the bench with four fouls, scoring nine points in an 11-0 run that gave the Tar Heels a 61-50 lead. Felton fouled out with 2:11 remaining in the game and the Tar Heels leading, 64-56.

“I didn’t think that Raymond was going to get five [fouls] that quickly,” McCants said. “Once it happened, I immediately knew what I had to do ... take the game over. Drive and get those guys in foul trouble.”

But Villanova wouldn’t quit.

Without Felton on the floor, the Tar Heels struggled to run their offense against the Wildcats’ full-court pressure.

Guard Randy Foye, who scored a game-high 28 points, cut the lead to 66-63 on a free throw with 18 seconds to play.

Foye missed the second free throw, but Villanova got the rebound. After a timeout, guard Allan Ray drove and made a basket, but official Tom O’Neill called traveling, giving the ball back to North Carolina and triggering boos in the crowd. TV replays appeared to indicate McCants might have fouled Ray on the play, and fans threw water bottles on to the court in protest of the traveling call.

McCants made a free throw to increase the lead to 67-63, and Kyle Lowry made a three-pointer with three seconds left to close the scoring.

“I thought that the ref called the foul,” Ray said. “But I can’t say that one play is the reason we lost the game.”