Oregon-North Carolina Final Four meeting stirs emotions

If this Final Four taught us anything, it’s how to feel again. We have become a desensitized bunch, consumed by metrics and memes and 140-character blasts of bluster.

But sports are about heart and passion and righteousness, too, and Saturday’s Final Four semifinal between North Carolina and Oregon gave us all of those.

It was the compassion we felt for the Ducks’ Jordan Bell, who was inconsolable in the locker room afterward for what he believed was his role in his team’s failure to box out late in the game.

He “felt terrible,” Ducks coach Dana Altman said after the 77-76 loss. “But I told him, I said, ‘Buddy, you got 16 rebounds, we wouldn’t have been in this position if it hadn’t been for you.’ ”

It was the mixed feelings we had about the Tar Heels’ success.

North Carolina was erratic but had its high moments, too, especially those from Kennedy Meeks, who grabbed the game-saving offensive rebound and finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds.

RELATED: North Carolina survives Oregon to return to title game

And there was Roy Williams, dadgum it, who is in the hunt for a championship again.

The man of many colloquialisms is also the man of many postseasons, with a whopping seven Finals Fours in the 2000s and a third national championship a possibility.

So why is it so hard to hug this North Carolina program?

Because the backdrop music for Saturday’s victory over Oregon was the low murmur of Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” The Tar Heels athletic department is still being investigated for a decades-long academic fraud case that included fraudulent classes offered by the university’s African and Afro-American Studies department.

Sorry, but it feels unauthentic to celebrate one part of North Carolina’s greatness without acknowledging the other.

And it was the happiness we felt for North Carolina players, who delivered when they needed to, setting up a title game meeting with Gonzaga and preventing the first championship meeting between two West Coast teams.

It is the pleasure we feel in an intriguing matchup, a battle between coaches who are good friends. In fact, Gonzaga coach Mark Few called Williams recently to confirm the rules of a particular card game.

And Williams has to be applauded the way he had this team ready for the postseason. Like he almost always does.

Oregon had a chance but struggled on the boards in the worst way. How appropriate that North Carolina finished the game with two big rebounds.

The smile on Williams’ face was from exactly what he talked about this week, dealing with endless questions about academic fraud.

“Therapeutic is probably the proper word,” Williams said. “We’ve had some junk swirling around that I haven’t enjoyed or appreciated or felt good about things that were being said. But I could lose myself when I went out on the court with those guys.

“These two teams have been very therapeutic for me. They’ve really made me feel good about what I’m doing.”

MORE: Oregon’s Jordan Bell misses two costly rebounds in final seconds

Saturday, he reflected on another chance to win a title after losing in the championship to Villanova last year.

“Two or three emotions,” he said. “I really don’t think about it a lot. I really don’t. It’s this team. I’m coaching a new group of kids. And making it back to the national championship game is amazing. Oh, you did it last year? Well, that still makes it even more amazing kind of thing.”

What a game.

The Tar Heels made a strong stand late in the first half and took a 39-36 lead into halftime. It was an impressive comeback considering how the game started. Oregon’s relentless defense forced North Carolina into poor decision making, with its big men hoisting ill-conceived long-range shots and its offense looking completely out of sync.

The Ducks looked to be in a good place with an eight-point lead with 4:08 to go, thanks in part to Dylan Ennis’ corner 3-point shots. But 2-for-11 shooting from Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey didn’t help and it soon became clear the Tar Heels were regrouping, getting a better handle on Oregon’s defenses.

Meeks was sensational in the first half with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Throw in a team-leading five rebounds and two steals and you have the reasons why the Tar Heels were a happy group at halftime. Also consider this: 12 Oregon turnovers. And in an interesting stat, North Carolina had zero fast-break points but 20 in the paint.

RELATED: Early look at Gonzaga-North Carolina matchup

Too bad for Oregon. It has been a remarkable run for the Ducks, who lost a key player, Chris Boucher, for the season after he suffered a torn ACL in the Pac-12 Tournament.

And it was just three years ago that many thought Altman would be gone from Oregon – either by the school’s volition or his – after the attention that accompanied the alleged sexual assault by three of his players and the university’s handling of it. None were charged in the alleged assault, but the three were still kicked off the team.

But the Ducks endured, putting together a team that includes a local basketball hero – Corona del Sol’s Casey Benson – and a senior guard, Ennis, who is 25 and serves up a much-welcomed dose of leadership.

This team is full of storylines, which overlooks an important one about Altman: He’s one of the best coaches in the country, particularly at putting pieces together and making them a cohesive unit. How Oregon regrouped after the injury to Boucher, who was averaging 11.8 points and 6.1 rebounds, was a testament to that.

They sure could have used him Saturday.

Reach Paola Boivin at [email protected] and on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin. Listen to her streaming live on “The Brad Cesmat Show” on sports360az.com every Monday at 10:30 a.m.