SAN ANTONIO - Coach Rick Majerus barely made it to the locker room, the way his Utah Utes barely made it to the finish of their game against top-ranked North Carolina at the Alamodome Saturday night.
Majerus had to deal with hugs and high-fives from friends, bosses, even ostensibly objective journalists who could not contain their joy at the thought of this coach and his team playing Kentucky in Monday's NCAA championship game. The Utes had to deal with a gradual comeback by the Tar Heels that nearly overcame the biggest deficit they faced all season.
If Utah had not survived, of course, 65-59, there would have been no need for the celebration, which was over not even a half-hour after the game. ''I think what we are feeling is we've got another game on Monday,'' Majerus said. ''I feel so bad they can't go out and enjoy it.''
There were few gimmicks, not much junk but maybe a few tricks from Majerus as Utah pulled this upset, its second in a row against a No. 1 seed and perhaps the biggest at the Final Four since Duke defeated an undefeated UNLV team in the 1991 semifinals. He brought the Utes (30-3) to the Alamodome to play ordinary basketball, and that is what they did, sort of.
After winning acclaim for his decision to employ an unusual triangle-and-two defense that blew defending national champion Arizona out of the tournament, Majerus came to the Final Four suggesting he would return to the man-to-man defense that carried the Utes to 28 of their 29 wins this season.
That defense held national player of the year Antawn Jamison to 7-of-19 shooting and 14 points. It held star shooting guard Shammond Williams to 2-of-12 shooting and seven points. It held North Carolina (34-4) to .391, the first time the Tar Heels dropped below .400 all season.
Point guard Andre Miller scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds and was one of several Utes who took a run at Williams on defense. Center Michae Doelac scored 16 points and was principally responsible for Jamison's miserable night.
''We wanted to stay down on our feet when he was shooting,'' Doleac said. ''If we tried to jump with him, he would be able to get around us and get offensive rebounds. We wanted to make him shoot over us. If he did that, he would earn it.''
The Heels (34-4) fell behind by as much as 18 points in the first half and rallied to trail by two with 2:01 left. Although Jamison continued to struggle, forward Vince Carter and point guard Ed Cota fueled a Carolina comeback. They combined for 19 second-half points, and Carter finished with a game-high 21.
Ahead by seven with 3:40 left, Utah switched from its man-to-man to a box-and-one defense on Williams. Power forward Ademola Okulaja punished the Utes with a three-pointer. It was a two-point game when Okulaja poked the ball loose from Doleac and Cota nailed a runner in the lane to make it 57-55.
''I could sense we were playing a little bit not to lose rather than to win,'' Majerus said.
That changed as the Tar Heels aligned in a press following Cota's basket. Having scored only one point in 6 minutes, 20 seconds, the Utes beat Carolina's press to get a layup from Miller - over Jamison - and break the field goal drought with 1:57 to play. That doubled the lead, and the Heels missed their chance to answer when Carter knocked the front end of a one-and-one off the rim.
The Utes made 5-of-6 from the free-throw line as Carolina tried to foul its way back into the game, and the Heels' rushed attempts at three-pointers turned into airballs, one by Carter and one by Cota.
''I really thought we were ready to play,'' said North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge. ''Maybe we were too ready. I think we were probably too tight. I'm sorry I didn't read that better.''
To cope with the enormous talents of Carter, Jamison ad Williams, Majerus made a couple of adjustments to his defense. He did not have Doleac leave the lane when defending Jamison, daring the Oscar Robertson Trophy winner to shoot whatever three-pointers he wished. Williams was double-teamed whenever possible.
Equally important to Utah's potential to pull an upset, though, was the approach it brought to offense. So many teams were overwhelmed with the task of stopping the Heels and forgot about finding a means of getting the ball into the goal. Utah had no intention of playing passively. The Utes fired up three quick jumpers, including three-pointers by Mottola and guard Drew Hansen and built an 8-0 lead.
''Our defense lost us this game,'' said Tar Heels forward Ademola Okulaja. ''We played horrible defense at the start. That was the difference in the game.''
UTAH (65)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Mottola 29 2-9 4-6 1-1 0 3 9
Jensen 34 3-4 0-0 1-5 3 4 7
Doleac 25 6-11 4-7 0-5 1 2 16
Miller 37 7-15 2-7 2-14 7 1 16
Hansen 33 1-1 2-2 0-6 2 2 5
Jackson 18 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Mctavish 3 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 1 3
Johnsen 16 3-7 0-0 1-2 0 1 7
Caton 5 1-3 0-0 1-1 0 0 2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 24-54 12-22 6-34 14 15 65
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.444, FT-.545. 3-Point Goals:
5-17, .294 (Mottola 1-4, Jensen 1-1, Doleac 0-1,
Miller 0-3, Hansen 1-1, Jackson 0-1, Mctavish
1-2, Johnsen 1-2, Caton 0-2). Team rebounds: 5.
Blocked shots: 3 (Mottola, Doleac, Johnsen).
Turnovers: 9 (Miller 4, Mottola 3, Hansen,
Jackson). Steals: 5 (Jensen 2, Hansen, Johnsen,
Miller).
NORTH CAROLINA (59)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Okulaja 37 3-8 0-0 2-9 1 3 7
Jamison 37 7-19 0-2 4-12 1 4 14
Ndiaye 14 0-3 0-2 1-2 0 5 0
Cota 38 4-9 0-0 1-7 7 2 8
Carter 32 10-16 0-1 3-5 0 3 21
Sh Williams 34 2-12 2-2 0-2 5 0 7
Haywood 8 1-2 0-0 2-3 0 2 2
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 27-69 2-7 13-40 14 19 59
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.391, FT-.286. 3-Point Goals:
3-23, .130 (Okulaja 1-5, Jamison 0-1, Cota 0-4,
Carter 1-4, Sh Williams 1-9). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 5 (Carter 3, Ndiaye 2). Turnovers:
8 (Sh Williams 3, Carter 2, Cota 2, Ndiaye).
Steals: 5 (Okulaja 3, Cota, Jamison).
__________________________________
Utah 35 30 - 65
North Carolina 22 37 - 59
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 40,509. Officials:
John Clougherty, Andre Pattillo, Don Rutledge.
Today's NCAA coverage
Utah-Kentucky unlikely final
Kentucky 86, Stanford 85
All Stanford was missing was Sheppard Paul Daugherty column
Sheppard saves day for UK
Turner happy to get the win
UK victory thrills fans
UK Notes
Utah 65, North Carolina 59
Miller stops Heels in tracks
Final Four jinx gets Williams
Utah/UNC Notes
NCAA coverage from Associated Press
