Final Four lines: North Carolina -4½ over Oregon, Gonzaga -6½ over South Carolina
The Final Four is finalized and so are the lines for Saturday’s national semifinals, which will feature two teams from the West Coast and two from the Carolinas.
No. 1 seed Gonzaga opened as a 6½-point favorite over No. 7 seed South Carolina in Saturday’s 3:09 p.m. opener and the total is 138 in the matchup of two of the nation’s stingiest defensive teams.
No. 1 seed North Carolina opened as a 4½-point favorite over No. 3 Oregon in the second semifinal and the total is 149½.
The Tar Heels outlasted the second-seeded Wildcats in a 75-73 thriller Sunday afternoon in the Elite Eight finale. Malik Monk hit a 3-pointer to tie it at 73-all with 10 seconds left, but Luke Maye answered with a long jumper with 0.3 seconds left to put North Carolina, a 2-point favorite, ahead for good.
Monk scored 47 points in Kentucky’s 103-100 win over the Tar Heels on Dec. 17 in Las Vegas. Sunday’s game went under the total of 161.
Oregon stunned Kansas 74-60 on Saturday as a 6½-point underdog and plus-300 on the money line.
Sindarius Thornwell scored 26 points as South Carolina erased a seven-point halftime deficit Sunday en route to a 77-70 win over Florida as a 3-point underdog.
Gonzaga cruised to an 83-59 win over Xavier on Saturday, easily covering the 8½-point spread.
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.
