The magic number in the semifinals of the national semifinals of the 2017 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament was 77. That’s what both Gonzaga and North Carolina scored as they secured their spots in the championship game.
Gonzaga, a No. 1 seed, defeated No. 7 South Carolina 77-73 in the first semifinal of the night in Phoenix. North Carolina, also a No. 1 seed, prevailed 77-76 over No. 3 Oregon in the night cap.
The Zags win over the Gamecocks was a game of runs, particularly in the second half. After holding a nine-point lead at halftime, Gonzaga expanded the lead to 14 midway through the second half. At that point, South Carolina scored 16 straight points to take a 67-65 lead with seven minutes remaining. The Bulldogs answered by scoring the next seven points to take the lead for good.
“Just an awesome, awesome basketball game, with just how hard both teams competed,” Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said, according to ESPN.com. “It took everything we had to hold them off and come back…To be playing the last game of the year, that’s crazy cool.”
Gonzaga’s Nigel Williams-Gross led the way with 23 points. Freshman Zach Collins notched a double-double with 14 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks off the bench. He is the third freshman to post a stat line of 10+ points, 10+ rebounds and five+ rebounds in a Final Four game, joining Kansas’ Danny Manning and Kentucky’s Anthony Davis.
South Carolina was led by PJ Dozier’s 17 points and Chris Silva’s double-double of 13 points and 13 rebounds.
“There’s something powerful when you impact others,” Gamecocks head coach Frank Martin said in an emotional press conference, according to ESPN.com. “And what these kids have done is pretty special. When you get people to travel across the country by the masses because they believe in what you do, it’s powerful stuff. And they’ve impacted our community in an unbelievable way, which is worth so much more than the score of a game.”

In the second semifinal North Carolina won in a wild finish. The Tar Heels led by six with 57 seconds remaining. The Ducks narrowed the lead to one with a Tyler Dorsey 3-pointer and a Keith Smith layup.
UNC’s Kennedy Meeks was then fouled with five seconds remaining and went to the free throw line to shoot two. He missed both, and teammate Theo Pinson grabbed the offensive rebound and passed to Joel Berry II, who was fouled immediately with four seconds left.
Berry missed both of his free throws, and the Tar Heels secured the rebound again as Meeks pulled down the ball and passed it out to the 3-point line before the Ducks could foul, and the final seconds ticked off the clock.

North Carolina had 19 second-chance points. Meeks amassed 25 points and eight rebounds. Teammate Justin Jackson scored 22 points.
“If it wasn’t for Kennedy Meeks, we wouldn’t have been in the basketball game,” North Carolina head coach Roy Williams said, according to ESPN.com.
For Oregon, Tyler Dorey had a team-high 21 points. Dylan Ennis finished with 18 points, and Jordan Bell posted a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds.
Looking ahead:
The national championship game on Monday night features teams with contrasting amounts of experience. The Zags are making their first title game appearance. The Tar Heels are in the championship game for the second straight season after losing a heartbreaker to Villanova on a buzzer-beater in 2016. North Carolina is looking to claim its sixth national championship.