Tar Heels kept it light in path back to title game

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Cameras lie, too.

Because the lasting images of Oregon's 2016-17 season and North Carolina's advancement to its second consecutive national championship game will suggest thatJordan Bell's missed rebounds in the final seconds of his team's 77-76 loss to the Tar Heels ruined a valiant comeback effort.

But maybe his odds were slim, as he was the sole, exhausted interior defender tasked with two more box-outs -- and more pain -- against 6-foot-10, 260-pound Kennedy Meeks (25 points, 14 rebounds) and North Carolina's fleet of lengthy athletes.

Plus, North Carolina scripted this mission a year ago as a still-singed net at Houston's NRG Stadium swayed after Villanova'sKris Jenkins beat the buzzer in last season's title game. The Tar Heels were never going to let Bell or Oregon have anything without a scrap.

The Tar Heels' loss to Villanova set the course for the 2016-17 season. The Tar Heels made a decision then: They were going back to the national title game, and they were going to have fun on the way.

"Just don't save anything," said Theo Pinson, who finished with 8 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. "Put it all out there on the floor. I think we did tonight. Guys just put their heart out there."

Although Meeks andJoel Berry IImissed four free throws in the last five seconds of Saturday's game, and neither team showcased any offensive brilliance -- both shot below 40 percent from the field -- the Tar Heels flowed with a free-spirited vibe that belied Oregon's scattered shot selection throughout the game.

The Tar Heels played tracks off Drake's new "More Life" album in the University of Phoenix Stadium locker room and danced -- their preferred method of pregame relaxation -- before tipoff of the most important game of their season to date.

Justin Jackson, who scored 22 points, usually plays DJ and takes requests. But the team agreed on Drake as the soundtrack for the next step toward a third crown for coach Roy Williams, which would elevate the longtime coach beyond Dean Smith and his two national titles.

Yes, many college basketball teams dance, chant, rap, clap and jump before games.

Those squads did not lose, however, on a crippling buzzer-beater in last year's national title game. After the loss, Berryand Jackson sent encouraging text messages to the squad through their group message during the offseason.

"This is our season," they'd text their teammates.

The Tar Heels stayed close to Chapel Hill last summer. They watched movies together. After players lifted and practiced, they'd mingle in the locker room -- just to be close to one another. Then they'd "jone" -- playfully insult one another -- to keep the vibe loose.

"It's good to just chill a little bit," Tony Bradley said.

Jackson and Berry hurt like the rest of their teammates who left Houston without a ring. But they also knew they'd miss their chance to chase the title again if they entered 2016-17 burdened by the pressure of last season's result. They needed to focus to return to Monday's game.

But they also had to know when to disconnect and act like young people on a vibrant college campus should. They danced more and listened to more music and cracked more jokes on their way back to the national title game.

"I just kept on telling them: We're the best team in the country," Berry said. "And the biggest thing is we've just gotta go out there and have fun. ... A lot of people say we dance too much or we laugh or smile too much, but the thing is we're enjoying it, and at the same time we're focused. On a big stage like that, sometimes you gotta be a little loose to get the anxiety out of the way and the butterflies and just go out there and play."

In the tense scenarios of a postseason punctuated by a late rally against Arkansas in the second round, a buzzer-beater in a win over Kentucky in the Elite Eight and Saturday's wild finish, the Tar Heels could process the moments without being swallowed by them.

"I feel like if you take it too serious off the court, you can be a little bit tight and a little too tense," seniorNate Britt said.

On Saturday, Bell stood underneath the basket on back-to-back possessions with a chance to snatch an rebound and give his squad an opportunity to Kris Jenkins the Tar Heels in the final seconds.

"If I had just boxed out ... I had two opportunities,'' Bell said after the game. "People can tell me whatever they want, but I lost the game for us.''

That's the simple answer. Blame Bell for his gaffes after Oregon turned a 10-point game into a one-point thriller in the final seconds. Or blame Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey-- 5-for-22 combined -- or coach Dana Altman, who failed to identify a proper adjustment to slow North Carolina's dominance in the paint.

But credit North Carolina, a squad with an eye on Monday's game for the past calendar year.

The Tar Heels are a team with the right balance to digest the difficulties of the final seconds and secure a pair of must-have offensive rebounds in the national semifinals. They understood the pressure but never let it crush them.

"We're relieved," Williams said after the game. "We feel very lucky, feel very fortunate we're still playing, but the fact of the matter is we're still playing."

If they win one more game, they'll still be dancing, too.

"I think that stuff just pushes us forward because we don't want the journey to end," Pinson said. "I think that just makes it known that we love each other so much, and we're enjoying each other, being around each other. We don't want it to end. And we want to keep going until the last Monday night. And now we get a chance."