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Tar Heels, Gamecocks move on to NCAA Final Four

North Carolina is going to the Final Four for the 20th time. South Carolina is going for the first time.

The Tar Heels now are a win away from returning to the national championship game they narrowly lost a year ago.

And this time, they made the last shot.

Luke Maye hit a jumper with 0.3 seconds left and top-seeded North Carolina held off Kentucky 75-73.

Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points and South Carolina earned its first trip to the Final Four with a 77-70 victory over Florida on Sunday.

The seventh-seeded Gamecocks (26-10) used their trademark swarming defense and some solid free throw shooting to beat their fellow Southeastern Conference Gators (27-9) in the East Regional final at Madison Square Garden.

South Carolina will face Gonzaga, the No. 1 seed from the West Regional, in the Final Four on Saturday at Glendale, Arizona. North Carolina will tangle with Oregon, the No. 3 seed in the Midwest region.

North Carolina took control with 12 straight points over the final 5 minutes, a run similar to what it used a week ago to beat Arkansas. The Tar Heels finished this game with a 16-9 run. Kentucky’s freshmen De'Aaron Fox and Malik Monk hit three quick 3s, the last two by Monk. Monk's second shot with 7.2 seconds left and defenders in his face tied it up at 73.

Theo Pinson brought the ball down and passed back to Maye. The sophomore from Huntersville, North Carolina, knocked it down for the win with his feet on the 3-point line.

"I'm the guy that wanted him to come as a walk-on, so how dumb am I?" said UNC coach Roy Williams. "He (made) some big-time plays today, big-time plays two days ago."

Maye finished with 17 points off the bench for North Carolina. Justin Jackson scored 19 points, and Joel Berry II added 11.

South Carolina and Florida played as close as expected until the final minute. There were 14 lead changes and 10 ties. The last lead change came on two free throws by Thornwell with 2:24 left that made it 65-63. Florida managed just three field goals over the final 3:55.

Thornwell, the regional MVP, followed the deciding free throws with an assist to Maik Kotsar for a 4-point lead. It seemed Thornwell was always where he needed to be including a steal with 40 seconds left that made it 73-68.

PJ Dozier added 17 points for the Gamecocks, Chris Silva had 13 and Kotsar 12.

BIG PICTURE

South Carolina: This had been South Carolina's deepest run in the NCAA Tournament. ... The Gamecocks beat No. 2 seed Duke and No. 3 Baylor on the way to the Elite Eight. ... Until this tournament the Gamecocks hadn't won an NCAA Tournament game since 1973.

North Carolina: Memphis and the South Regional have been very good to the Tar Heels. This is the second straight time the Tar Heels have been the region's top seed and advanced to the Final Four through Memphis, and now they can only hope they replicate their success of 2009 when they won the program's fifth national title. Coach Roy Williams improved to 9-4 in regional finals overall and 5-3 at North Carolina.

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