Tar Heels eyeing another Final Four

One year after missing the NCAA tournament, North Carolina is one win from reaching another Final Four.

North Carolina will play Kentucky today at 5:05 p.m. at the Prudential Center for the East Regional championship. Both teams endured stressful seasons, but both can now add to two of the richest histories in college basketball.

After last season's five-win ACC season, the transfer of the Wear twins back home to California, the dismissal of Will Graves before the start of practice and Larry Drew's shocking February decision to quit the team, guard Dexter Strickland said he was surprised that the Tar Heels have a chance to reach their 19th Final Four.

"To have the season we've had this year is just a great feeling," Strickland said. "We've had some (personnel) losses throughout the season, but I think that brought this team together even more.

"Our team chemistry is at an all-time high. I think that's the key to our success."

The Tar Heels, the regional's No. 2 seed, are 29-7. The Wildcats, the No. 4 seed, are 28-8. They have played twice before in the NCAA tournament in regional championship games, with the Tar Heels winning in both 1977 and 1995.

The teams played each other this season on Dec. 4 in Chapel Hill, with the Tar Heels winning 75-73. Today's game will mark the first time that the Tar Heels and the Wildcats have played each other twice in one season.

The win in December was North Carolina's sixth in its past seven games against Kentucky. Coach Roy Williams of North Carolina said that the earlier game means little today, given that was played almost four months ago, a point with which coach John Calipari of Kentucky agreed.

"I think both teams were very young (in December) and are still young, but the experiences that were gained then made both of us much better teams," Williams said.

"There might be some adjustments made during the course of the game, but I don't think we'll make drastic adjustments because of what happened in that game."

North Carolina's size — with Tyler Zeller, a 7-foot center, and John Henson, a 6-10 forward — gave Kentucky problems in the first game. Zeller scored 27 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked five shots. Henson had 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Josh Harrellson, Kentucky's 6-10 center, has scored 47 points in his past three games after averaging 5.8 in SEC play. He was instrumental in Friday's 62-60 win over Ohio State in the semifinals.

Harrellson said that Zeller and Henson created numerous problems for him in the December game. He was one of three Wildcats to foul out. He said that he has to play stronger and stay in the rematch to counter Zeller and Henson.

Zeller had 27 points and 12 rebounds in Friday's 81-63 win against Marquette in the semifinals. He has scored 82 points in three NCAA tournament games, the most at North Carolina in a three-game NCAA stretch since 1969, when Charles Scott scored 83.

"I think he runs the floor better than (Ohio State's Jared) Sullinger," Harrellson said. "The way he's played these last three games, he's been tremendous.

"He's just been killing it. That's tough for a big man to do. The way he's been doing it, he's doing it easy, so it's going to be a tough matchup."

Kentucky point guard Brandon Knight hit the winning shot against Ohio State. He also hit the winning shot against Princeton in the regional's first round. One of three freshmen in the starting lineup, he leads the Wildcats by averaging 17.2 points and 4.2 assists.

He had 15 points and five assists before fouling out at Chapel Hill. The player who defended Knight then won't be around today — Drew, then the Tar Heels' starting point guard, had the assignment.

"I'm not sure (it's helpful Drew is gone)," Knight said. "We'll see what happens."

Williams was still deciding on Saturday what the backcourt defensive assignments might be. He said that Marshall could draw the assignment on Knight or it could fall to Strickland, the team's best defensive player.

Defense carried the Tar Heels against the Golden Knights. The Tar Heels are allowing opponents to shoot 40.3 percent from the field, the second-lowest figure of Williams' time at North Carolina.

He said that more will be needed today if the Tar Heels want to keep their comeback from 2010 going.

"I'm thrilled with where we are now," Williams said. "But at the same time, I hope that we can do a heck of a lot more."

bcole@wsjournal.com