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The Court Report: An analysis by Jim Young

SAN ANTONIO -- In the end, the mountain was just too high.

North Carolina cut all but four points off a 28-point first-half deficit, but in the end could never quite catch Kansas, falling 84-66 in the national semifinals Saturday night.

The Tar Heels (36-3) made a game of it after it has appeared UNC might be run out of the Alamodome. But the Tar Heels came to San Antonio with bigger goals than just looking respectable.

Those goals will have to wait another year, thanks to the stunning performance Kansas put on early and the mental toughness the Jayhawks showed late.

"We just came out too casual, thinking that something was just going to happen for us," said UNC swingman Marcus Ginyard. "We didn't fight for what we wanted."

The fight was already tipping in the Jayhawks' favor early as they jumped out to a 15-10 lead. Things then went from bad to worse to incomprehensible in the span of less than five minutes for the Tar Heels. Kansas proceeded to go on an18-0 run, outplaying UNC in a way that UNC hasn't been outplayed since, well, who knows?

"They hit us in the mouth and it knocked us down," said UNC swingman Danny Green. "And it kept us down."

On the defensive end, the Jayhawks forced turnovers, blocked shots and gave up almost no second shots. The Tar Heels really could have used a second or third chance on the offensive end, because their shots were clanking off the rim at an alarming rate. Kansas turned all those misses and turnovers into easy baskets on the other end, making an incredible 16 of its first 24 shots (75 percent).

The Kansas tide crested -- or UNC reached its nadir, take your pick -- when Cole Aldrich, Cole Aldrich?, hit a turnaround jumper over Tyler Hansbrough.

40-12. Unreal.

But also not over. The Jayhawks eventually came back to earth and the Tar Heels eventually got their bearings. A quick 10-0 run still left UNC down by 18, but it showed that the Jayhawks were human.

"We started to chip away little by little," Green said. "Coach said, 'You're not going to get it all back at once. Nobody's going to hit a 30-point shot.' "

Nor did the Tar Heels need such a thing. What they really needed was maybe just one more shot in the second half. After trading baskets for a few minutes after halftime, UNC went on a 14-0 run to cut the deficit to four, 54-50.

Kansas was clearly teetering, but the Jayhawks wouldn't go down. They pushed the lead back up to eight, before UNC cut it back down to five.

Then came the shot that the Tar Heels will likely be replaying in their minds many times in the coming months. Green got open on the left wing and put up a 3-pointer. It seemed to go all the way down below the rim before somehow spinning its way back out.

"That probably would have put us over the hill if that shot had gone down," Ty Lawson said.

Instead, Kansas seemed to gain a boost of momentum from the near miss. After spending so much time just trying to defend their lead, the Jayhawks finally went back to attacking.

"We had to get the ball back inside," said Jayhawks coach Bill Self. "We had some great finishes around the rim."

This time, when Kansas went on a run, the Tar Heels had no answer.

"I think we just kind of got into a panic mode," Hansbrough said.

Panic eventually gave way to disappointment, and then to questions about next year. Will Hansbrough, Lawson and shooting guard Wayne Ellington be back for another season or will any of them turn pro?

"I can't answer that right now," Hansbrough said.

"I haven't thought about that at all," Ellington said.

"I haven't thought about it yet," Lawson said.

Instead the Tar Heels were thinking Saturday night about the end of their season and how they came up just short of the summit.

Contact Jim Young at 373-7016 or jim.young@news-record.com