MEMPHIS, Tenn. — North Carolina and Villanova have a long, rich history of conflict in the NCAA Tournament, including a couple of heartbreaks on each side.
When the two meet Saturday at about 9 p.m. in the Detroit Final Four, it'll be their fifth NCAA game.
The Heels have won three of the previous four. But in 1985 at Birmingham, Rollie Massimino’s eventual national championship Wildcats defended the life out of the Tar Heels’ season, winning 56-44 en route to the Lexington Final Four and a championship win over Big East rival Georgetown.
Three seasons earlier, Dean Smith and UNC had stopped the Wildcats, 71-60, in the East Regional title game at N.C. State’s Reynolds Coliseum.
That UNC team won the title and over the same opponent Villanova beat in ‘85.
In 2005, the Heels had perhaps their most difficult NCAA game in a 67-66 escape against the Wildcats in a third-round East game at Syracuse. Lots of Villanova fans that night thought Carolina got more than its fair share of officiating judgments.
Carolina made the most of the escape, though. Roy Williams’ team then defeated Wisconsin in the regional final and outlasted two more Big Ten teams _ Michigan State and Illinois _ in the Final Four at St. Louis.
The Heels’ most difficult season ever against Villanova was in 1995-96, when they lost to the ‘Cats in the championship game of the Maui Invitational and then absorbed a second loss a month or so later in the Smith Center.
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how come
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 12:30 — gvillegatrthe 83 match b/tn Nova and UNC was not brought up?? b/c it was so long ago??
the replay from the reverse
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 10:25 — Thad_Williamsonthe replay from the reverse angle in slow-mo shows his right foot touches the ground before he releases the ball--that's what makes it a walk. I agree from the angle shown in the video it doesn't look like a walk, and it's questionable whether the referee who made the call saw the whole play, but the slow-mo version from the reverse angle shows the right foot coming back down. (wish I could find a video of this but it was shown extensively at the time).
Ray also walked when he first started the move.
2005
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 10:36 — johne118The problem was that the "traveling" wasn't called when his right foot may or may not have hit the ground after his two steps. The whistle blew as he was taking his two steps, not afterwards. The other two officials had much better angles but they didn't call it. This is why the UNC players were just as surprised that the traveling was called as they assumed it was a foul call and were just pleading to say it was on the ground before the shot.
Now whether Ray walked as he started his dribble is another question, but that's never really been the issue as everyone has talked about and dissected the move to the basket. Regardless, there shouldn't have been anything called there, and if the situation was reversed, there would be just as much hell raising from Tar Heel fans about a bogus call.
Your last paragraph shows
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 15:28 — Thad_WilliamsonYour last paragraph shows you don't really call about whether justice was done. If he walked in the first part of the move, there's no basis for claiming he should have had an and-1 later in the move.
Second, the video doesn't show UNC players "surprised" by the call. It shows Melvin Scott pointing back to the spot where the move started, presumably asking for a travel call, then celebrating when the call was made.
2nd game in 1996...
Sun, 03/29/2009 - 22:42 — Thad_WilliamsonThe second time Carolina played Nova in '95-96 was in Philadelphia, not the Smith Center. I'm surprised you didn't mention Villanova's win at Carmichael in '82-83, that was a major upset.
Re the Nova fans still whining about 2005, a) the officials earlier made a horrible call against Felton for his fifth foul (a charge + flop), which is the only reason the game was close late on and b) the replays conclusively showed that Foye
put his 2nd foot down before he shot on the play at the end of the game, and the NCAA supervisor of officials confirmed it was a good call. He actually walked at the beginning of the move as well.
2005
Mon, 03/30/2009 - 00:33 — johne118Regarding the 2005 game, check out about the 1:10 mark of
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnftIKoaQ4w
The player was Allan Ray and he takes the routine dribble, two steps and then put the shot up. The whistle is called as he gets his second step comes down by the ref on the far side who was screened on the play. The near side official does not call the foul. This is a play every college player does and it's legitimate. The most interesting thing about the play is that you'll see the reaction of the UNC players. No one is signaling a "traveling" call. Instead, the UNC guys are pointing on the ground to claim that the foul occurred before the shot. That's the best support for the argument that it was a bad call when the UNC players assumed it was a foul call.
The NCAA official "backed it up" by claiming that it was a judgment call for when the player picks up his pivot foot. Of course he's gonna back up the official. CBS analysts, however, were all over this call the next day and all said it was a bad call. You find another college player who does this and gets called for travel. Look long and hard because it won't be found easily.