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Summers, poor shooting doom UNC against Georgetown

Mar 26, 2007 - 3:55 AM EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- North Carolina needed Michael Jordan around just to make a shot, let alone the winning shot.

Freshman DaJuan Summers scored eight of his 20 points in overtime as second-seeded Georgetown took advantage of a complete collapse by top-seeded North Carolina to capture a 96-84 victory in the NCAA Tournament's East Region final.

In the 25th anniversary rematch of the Tar Heels' memorable win over the Hoyas in the 1982 national championship game when Jordan hit the go-ahead jumper late, North Carolina could do nothing right down the stretch as it watched a 10-point lead disappear over the final six minutes of regulation.

In the extra stanza, Georgetown (30-6) carried over its momentum, scoring the first 14 points for a commanding 95-81 advantage on a fast-break dunk by Summers with 20 seconds remaining.

"We got lucky in OT," regional MVP Jeff Green said. "They had a lot of open looks and they didn't go down. We just had to keep running our offense. We made shots and they didn't."

With the game all but wrapped up, the Tar Heels (31-7) finally recorded their first points of the extra session when freshman Ty Lawson hit a 3-pointer with 7.5 seconds left. It snapped a string where North Carolina had missed 20 of its previous 22 shots, dating to the 9:24 mark of the second half.

Starting three freshman all season, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams did not feel that his team's inexperience had anything to do with the shocking collapse.

"Not really. I think that, you know, Georgetown has no seniors," Williams said. "They have a freshmen and junior team. (The) ball didn't go in the hole a couple times. We did have really good looks. I don't think that the youthfulness of our team had anything to do with it. They guarded us. They contributed to us missing shots. They closed on us quickly and we thought we were more open than we were."

The Big East Conference Player of the Year, Green had 22 points and nine rebounds while Roy Hibbert added 13 and 11 for the Hoyas, who advanced to their first Final Four since 1985 despite never leading in the second half.

"It feels pretty good, I'll tell you that," Georgetown coach John Thompson III said. "I'm so proud of these guys. They've kind of played this year out in many ways as I thought it would. I knew we had a chance to be very good by this time of the year rolled around."

Georgetown will face top-seeded Ohio State in Atlanta in the national semifinal on Saturday.

Trailing 75-65 with 7:19 to play after two free throws by the Tar Heels' Marcus Ginyard, the Hoyas took advantage of the miraculously poor shooting by UNC to put together an 11-2 run, closing within 77-76 with 2:40 remaining.

Tyler Hansbrough, who finished with 26 points for the Tar Heels, helped briefly stem the tide by converting two free throws for a 79-76 edge.

Summers answered with a layup before Hansbrough powered in a contested layup to make it 81-78 with 1:42 to play.

Despite that layup, Hansbrough struggled as much as anyone during the Tar Heels' shooting woes, missing three of his final four shots and two free throws in overtime.

"Shots just weren't falling," said Hansbrough, who went 6-of-15 from the field. "It just didn't go in the hole late in the game for me."

"Tyler Hansbrough doesn't usually go 6-for-15, but guys down low made it tough for him," Williams said.

After both teams had an empty possession, including an off-the-mark jumper for Hansbrough, Jonathan Wallace knotted the score for Georgetown with a 3-pointer coming off a high screen from the left wing with 31 seconds remaining.

"That shot came within the rhythm of our offense," Wallace said. "We spun out and assessed that side of the floor and Lawson, he went underneath the screen. Everything was in sequence of the play. Nothing different. We were able to get a good shot."

North Carolina, which finished 35 percent (25-of-71) from the field, had a chance to end the game in regulation, but freshman Wayne Ellington's 3-pointer was off the mark.

"The play at the end, we had a play set if it was man and a play set if it was zone," Williams said. "They played zone. That's pretty good look. I'd take that any time, any day, and the shot just didn't go in."

Wallace's heave from halfcourt failed to beat the buzzer, but that proved to be of little consequence for the Hoyas, who took their first lead since midway through the first half when Wallace scored off a cut to the basket 38 seconds into the extra session.

Freshman Brandan Wright tried to respond for North Carolina with a jumper. Reyshawn Terry grabbed the offensive rebound, but had his shot blocked by Hibbert.

"Wallace hit a tough shot at the end of regulation. We got a good look with Wayne. (It) just didn't fall," Wright said about North Carolina's mindset going into OT. "We were ready to go in overtime."

Continuing to feed off the switch in momentum, Summers took advantage of Hansbrough being knocked to the floor to dunk from the left wing. Some tough defense by Hibbert forced Hansbrough to travel in the lane off a spin move, and Green hit a bank shot to make it 87-81 with 2:55 remaining.

Despite picking up his fourth foul with 3:48 remaining in regulation, Hibbert stepped up thereafter, recording two of his six blocks in overtime and contesting a handful of other shots.

"Defensively, (Hibbert) bothers your inside game and makes it difficult for you to get those shots that you can normally make," Williams said. "I think he's a really, really good player. From what I know about him, what I read, he hasn't been playing a long time, but I think he's going to play a heck of a long time from here on out."

Hibbert finished 6-of-10 from the field and grabbed six offensive boards, notching his fifth consecutive double-double.

Wallace had 19 points and seven assists and Jessie Sapp added 15 and eight assists as all five Georgetown starters scored in double figures for the first time this season.

Overall, the Hoyas shot 58 percent (38-of-66), holding a 56-32 advantage in points in the paint.

Wright and classmate Deon Thompson scored 14 points apiece for North Carolina, which lost despite holding a 43-38 advantage in rebounds, including 21-11 on the offensive end.