INDIANAPOLIS - There came a moment when Mike Bibby didn't think any longer about the shot, about the game, about the Final Four. ''My mentality is to shoot the rock,'' he said, although he made it seem more an instinct.
Only a minute earlier, Arizona had pondered its way into a shot-clock violation that could have been a devastating turnover and, at the least, allowed North Carolina to creep a basket closer to wiping away a comfortable Wildcats lead in Saturday's NCAA Tournament semifinal. Eight points was close enough.
Next time, Bibby reacted. How much time was on the game clock? Two minutes, 24 seconds. The shot clock? Only seven seconds had passed. Did any of this matter? Nothing mattered but the stroke, which was quick and pure and sent the ball to the bottom of the goal, that
three-pointer sending the Tar Heels back to the Research Triangle to find answers after their 66-58 defeat.
''I'm not worried about what time the game is. I'm going to shoot,'' said Bibby, the Wildcats' star point guard, who scored 20 points.
Neither offense ran all that efficiently, with the 47,028 at the RCA Dome treated to a combined 95 missed shots. Bibby's string of four three-pointers in less than five minutes made it matter less for Arizona, which plays Monday night for its first NCAA title against Kentucky.
He opened the game making one of his first seven shots, looking very much like the freshman he is. He wound up scoring 17 in the second half.
''I guess I was nervous for a little bit. I knew if I kept on shooting, it would fall in sometime.''
This is Arizona coach Lute Olson's fourth trip to the Final Four, but the first time he won a game here. Olson designed a defense worthy of a championship coach.
He exhorted wing players Miles Simon and Michael Dickerson never to lose sight of Heels guard Shammond Williams and big men Bennett Davison and A.J. Bramlett and to keep forward Antawn Jamison out of the lane.
The result was a combined 8-of-30
shooting night from the Heels' leading scorers. Center Serge Zwikker was 4-of-12. Carolina's .311 shooting percentage was a season low.
''Early on, I was kind of forcing some shots up,'' Jamison said. ''I beat one person, and then another person comes in the paint. They did a terrific job on the defensive post.''
Coach Dean Smith wanted to present Arizona with an immediate signal its quickness and jumping ability would not be decisive. He sent 6-6 guard Vince Carter to jump center with instructions to swat the ball deep into the backcourt, where teammate Shammond Williams would be stationed to collect it.
A funny thing happened on the way to the basket. Simon dashed after the ball, grabbed it before Williams had a chance and laid it in the goal, all in a single motion.
Despite that initial burst of brilliance, the Wildcats for the first five minutes played as though they had reached the finish line upon walking into the Final Four. They fell into a 15-4 deficit, with Jamison scoring three times on the break.
Simon scored 15 of his 24 points in the first half.
As the Arizona defense allowed just seven points in the first nine minutes of the second half, the Wildcats built a 47-38 lead on a reverse layup by rugged Arizona freshman Eugene Edgerson.
North Carolina got a hard jam by Jamison to make it a five-point game, but its opportunity to cut that deficit to one possession was blown at the 8:30 mark when Zwikker rocked a follow-dunk off the back rim.
It sounded like a Tar Heels collapse. Arizona took the impetus from that blunder and turned on that run of three-pointers, including Bibby's stunning fallaway from the right corner with 4:46 left that made it a 61-46 lead.
For an instant, it appeared as though the Wildcats would turn this huge advantage into another excruciating finish, as they had against Kansas and Providence in earning their way to Indianapolis. Then came Bibby's flashy rescue. The Wildcats needed the cushion.
''It was beneficial to us to have played Kansas,'' Olson said. ''The win gave us a lot of confidence that hey, if we can beat Kansas, then there shouldn't be any reason we can't beat any team we have to come up against.''
BOX SCORE
Previous Final Four stories
GUARDS PROVIDE GUIDANCE FOR TAR HEELS March 29, 1997
ARIZONA WALKS TIGHTROPE TO INDY March 28, 1997
PREJUDICE BLOCKED HASKINS FROM PLAYING AT UK March 27, 1997
TAR HEELS NO LONGER WISHING 'THEY' WERE HERE March 26, 1997
JACKSON EXCEPTION TO HASKINS' RULE March 25, 1997
ARIZONA JOINS NO.1 PARTY March 24, 1997
