The choice was obvious, but for the North Carolina fans in attendance, when the Most Valuable Player of the Syracuse Region was announced, it didn’t temper their excitement.

UNC center Sean May took home the MVP honors. When it was announced after the game, the crowd erupted.

North Carolina teammate Rashad McCants joined May on the All-Tournament team. Wisconsin’s Alando Tucker and Clayton Hanson also made the list, as did Villanova’s Randy Foye.

May scored 45 points this weekend and grabbed 22 rebounds. Tucker scored 47 points.

In good company

Maybe, just maybe, Roy Williams is on to something. When his North Carolina basketball team advanced to the Final Four on Sunday, Williams became the 12th coach to lead two different programs to the Final Four.

He has appeared in five Final Fours and led Kansas to the final game against Syracuse in 2003.

‘He knows what he’s doing,’ said UNC senior Jawad Williams. ‘He got us this far, I know he can take us to the top.’

Williams is now in fifth place for most NCAA Tournament wins by active coaches with 39. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim is in fourth place with 40.

Two years ago, Williams left Kansas for North Carolina, his alma mater. At the time, he was criticized for bailing on a program that had finally reached elite status.

‘Tonight, when I sit back and think about it a little more, it might be something special just because I did go to school at North Carolina,’ Williams said. ‘But I tell you, University of Kansas gave me a chance, and so they’ll never be anything negative crossing my lips or brain about that place.’

For the tie

Wisconsin tied a school record for the most victories in a season with 25 but wasn’t able to break the record on Sunday. It won 25 games last season, as well.

In 2000, the year the Badgers advanced to the Final Four, they only had 22 wins and entered the tournament as a No. 8 seed.

‘I’m so proud of these guys,’ said Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan. ‘I can’t even put it into words again what they’ve done with this group. I’m telling you, this group was unbelievable.’

Fouled up

Roy Williams tried everything he could to stop play from resuming. He flailed his arms and hollered in his southern twang, anything to get a referee’s attention. His star guard, Raymond Felton, had two fouls already, and the Carrier Dome public address announcer had just credited him with a third.

Only one problem: The foul was on UNC’s Marvin Williams. Afraid that the error wouldn’t be caught in time, Williams nearly ran onto the court to alert the referees. After a brief conversation, the error was corrected, and the foul was accurately credited to Williams.

After picking up his second foul with 11:55 to go in the first half, Felton tempered his play and stuck in the game. He logged 33 total minutes and didn’t pick up a foul the rest of the game.

In the zone

Late in the first half, the Tar Heels went to the zone defense, hoping to halt Wisconsin’s inside penetration. It only allowed the Badgers to torch them from the outside. Wisconsin hit two 3-pointers within a minute to close the Carolina lead to seven points.

‘We did a terrible job,’ Jawad Williams said. ‘We need to go back to the basics.’

This and that

North Carolina is 8-1 all-time in the Carrier Dome and 7-1 in NCAA Tournament games in the Dome. … May recorded his 17th double-double of the year and 12th double-double in his last 14 games. … When it was Marvin Williams’ turn to cut down the net during UNC’s celebration, the Carolina fans urged their talented freshman to stay in school, chanting, ‘Three More Years!’ Williams is considered a lottery pick by many experts if he declares for the NBA Draft. … The combined attendance for the Regional weekend was 61,048.

Published on March 27, 2005 at 12:00 pm