North Carolina ousts 10-seed Syracuse 83-66

HOUSTON – Marcus Paige watched the shot sink and pointed toward the hoop. The North Carolina senior guard might as well have been pointing to the exit sign.

Paige's three-pointer touched off a late flurry from deep Saturday that sent the Tar Heels to an 83-66 victory in the national semifinal at NRG Stadium and Syracuse to its NCAA tournament departure.

The timing was impeccable.

After missing their first 12 three-pointers, the Tar Heels made four of their last five attempts from beyond the arc — three of those from Paige — giving North Carolina a second wind just as Syracuse was threatening.

The victory handed coach Roy Williams the chance to battle for his third national championship and North Carolina its sixth when the Tar Heels face off with Villanova on Monday.

"Couldn't be prouder for a team than I am for this team this right here," Williams said. "… I couldn't be having a more fantastic ride than I'm having right now."

Just over a half-hour after Villanova dispensed Oklahoma by a historic 44 points in the first national semifinal, North Carolina (33-6) showed early hints it had its own ideas about dominating Atlantic Coast Conference rival Syracuse (23-14) in the nightcap.

Brice Johnson shoved off early foul trouble to finish with 16 points and nine rebounds for the Tar Heels, the lone No. 1 seed in the Final Four. Justin Jackson also scored 16 points, Kennedy Meeks had 15 and Paige 13, while point guard Joel Berry added eight points, seven rebounds and 10 assists.

"That just goes to show the balance of our team," Berry said. "We don't have to throw it to Brice all the time to get some baskets, have to throw it to Kennedy or Justin or Marcus or myself …That's what kind of team we are."

The balanced effort started early, making up for a pair of substantial stumbling blocks.

After Paige started 0-for-4 from the field, Johnson, the Tar Heels' ace big man, delivered a thundering putback of Nate Britt's missed three-pointer. But only 21 seconds later, Johnson picked up his second foul, putting him on the bench for the final nine minutes of the half. Meanwhile, the entire team was clanking every look it had from the perimeter.

No matter. Without their two best players flexing, the Tar Heels managed a 9-0 run that put them up 27-20, and they extended that lead to 39-28 at halftime.

North Carolina continued to push in the second half before Syracuse — which endured two near-misses against North Carolina in the regular season — made its move. Syracuse went on a 10-0 run, pulling within 57-50 on back-to-back buckets from Malachi Richardson and Syracuse suddenly looked primed to threaten to rally, just as it did in the 10th-seeded Orange's previous two NCAA tournament games.

Then, like a switch, North Carolina turned on its perimeter shooting — starting with Paige, who has struggled to consistently find his shot all year.

"At that moment, I wanted somebody in a North Carolina uniform to make it," Williams said. "There's no question I got really excited because he had done so many good things and hadn't been able to make a shot … I got a little excited on the sideline at that."

The Tar Heels would hit three more, two of them from Paige, keeping them two steps ahead of Syracuse. North Carolina has won all five of its tournament games by at least 14 points.

"You felt every one of them," Syracuse freshman guard Frank Howard said of Paige's threes. "He's a big-shot maker, and he hit a big shot and that killed us."