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Prelude to a Championship II
SportsLine.com staff
March 24, 2000
Elite Eight -- South Regional Final, Sunday
Also Sunday: East
Regional Final
No. 7 TULSA vs. No. 8 NORTH CAROLINA
Austin,
Texas, 2:40 p.m. ET
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Anybody who picked a Tulsa-North Carolina pairing in the South Regional Final is truly a visionary. It's the first time a No. 7 and No. 8 have met in a regional final. UNC goes for its 15th Final Four (trying to break a tie with UCLA for most ever), while Tulsa is in its first regional final. Carolina seems to have found the key to the potential that laid dormant all season; the Hurricane is trying to turn its national-best 32-win season into something that will never be forgotten.
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Matchup
Breakdown | Common Opponents |
Golden Hurricane (32-4, 12-2)
Player
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Tar Heels (20-13, 9-7)
Player
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If Bill Self's team needs a confidence boost against the Carolina blue, they can look at how the Tar Heels were fortunate to overcome Tennessee -- a team that that Hurricane whipped by 20 points early in the season. UNC will have athletic mismatches all over the floor, but Tulsa has dealt with that before and is still playing. Keeping Brandon Kurtz out of foul trouble as he guards Brendan Haywood is crucial.
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Showed Friday it could win without Brendan Haywood, as the big guy fouled out with 8:03 to play but the Tar Heels still found a way to win. The Heels are proving that backcourts do win championships, as Ed Cota and freshman Joseph Forte have been tremendous. A team that had struggled all year has shown remarkable poise in the postseason and carries confidence against a Tulsa team that likes to start fast.
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