At the end of the first half, the score was 48 to 38 in favor of the Tar Heels.

Although the Devils played very hard under the leadership of Xu Yong, there was a gap in strength between the two teams. You know, the Tar Heels' bench still had future NBA lottery players such as Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller.

Of course, compared to the gap in strength, what is more important is that the Tar Heels had a great outside touch in the first half. They made 6 of 12 shots from beyond the three-point line, and their 50% three-point shooting rate prevented the Devils from shrinking on the defensive end.

The result of being unable to shrink is that the penalty area cannot be well protected, which was reflected at the beginning of the game.

Xu Yong's consecutive blocks were very beautiful and enough to boost morale, but he couldn't do it in every round.

Of course, the team's lag cannot cover up Xu Yong's outstanding performance in the first half.

He scored a team-high 10 points in the first half, plus 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 blocks and 1 steal.

This performance that filled the stats column earned him an interview with reporters at halftime.

The interview didn’t last long. The team was behind and Xu Yong wanted to return to the locker room early.

However, in this short interview, the answer to one question caused cheers and whistles from the audience.

That was when the reporter asked why Xu Yong played so well and was so active in the first half.

"Because Michael Jordan is my idol, and I feel very motivated to see him live," Xu Yong said truthfully.

When Xu Yong finished saying this, the camera immediately turned to Jordan.

Jordan smiled, then shook his head.

From the moment Xu Yong's consecutive blocks caught his attention, he knew that the little guy wearing No. 23 was his fan.

Now Xu Yong said it directly in front of the reporters, and added that they played well because of the motivation he gave them. That was equivalent to indirectly praising him, and he must be happy.

But the problem is that Xu Yong is now at Arizona State University!

He was the key to the Devils' ability to keep the score close in the first half. Without him, the score difference would have been 20 points.

If he had played as well in the second half, it would have been hard to say who would win or lose the game.

Others might not react so quickly, but as the God of Basketball, how could he not know about the feel of the touch.

North Carolina's outside shooters were so hot in the first half, who can guarantee that they can still be hot in the second half?

So he was very happy when Xu Yong said he was his idol, but he would not like it if Xu Yong led his team to beat North Carolina!

"Magic, do you think Arizona State still has a chance in the second half?"

On the commentary side, Kenny Smith asked "Magic" Johnson a question.

The commentators for this game had been decided long before the semi-finals began, and Johnson was one of the guests.

"Of course, they have proved that they have the strength to get to this stage. If they can maintain the state in the first half, they have a good chance." Johnson replied without thinking.

He had to say this because Arizona State University eliminated Michigan State University to reach the finals. If they said they had no chance, wouldn't it make Michigan State University seem weak?

This was actually the reason why he advised Jordan not to come to the scene. He knew that with Jordan's personality, he would definitely be unhappy if he said that.

"Of course, North Carolina has a better chance, after all, they are still leading by double digits." But he immediately added that he really didn't want to have a bad relationship with Jordan because of the commentary of a game.

Of course, he didn't go into details. After all, three-point shooting depends on God. Who said that North Carolina would have a cold hand in the second half?

Fifteen minutes passed quickly, and after the halftime break, the main players from both sides returned to the field.

The 80,000 fans at the scene continued to get agitated. The ten-point difference was not considered big even in the NCAA, so it was hard to say who would win.

Moreover, from the facial expressions and body language of the Devil Team members captured by the camera, we can see that, as the lagging side, they are still full of fighting spirit.

The second half of the game continued amid the cheers of the fans.

The Tar Heels' offense didn't get a good chance to break through facing the Devils' tight defense.

After Lawson attempted a failed pass, he passed the ball to Ellington.

Ellington and Thompson played a similar pick-and-roll as in the first half, and he took advantage of the pick-and-roll to quickly shoot a three-pointer from the outside.

"when!"

The ball had a good trajectory, but it hit the edge of the basket and bounced out.

Jordan frowned, and Johnson felt like his heart was struck.

Although theoretically, it is possible for North Carolina to continue its momentum or to cool down, in reality, these two possibilities are not 50-50.

Because the hot feeling itself is a low-probability event.

This means that the probability of North Carolina's performance cooling off in the second half is much greater than that of it continuing to be hot.

Ayers successfully protected the defensive rebound.

In the transition from offense to defense, the Tar Heels' defense remained impenetrable.

Although their three-point shooting has cooled, it does not affect their performance on the defensive end.

And they are now the leading side and can easily fight with the Devils team for two points one by one.

There was not much time left for the attack and the ball finally fell into Xu Yong's hands.

Jordan's eyes unconsciously turned to Xu Yong at this time.

One of the things he was worried about had already happened, and if another one happened again, tonight would be a night of carnival for the media.

The one defending Xu Yong was Thompson, who stood slightly behind.

In the first half, Xu Yong only made one mid-range shot, and the rest of the goals were all shots at the basket.

Seeing this, Xu Yong immediately changed direction to the left and prepared to break through on the left, and Thompson's center of gravity quickly tilted to the left.

Among North Carolina's five starters, only Thompson failed to enter the NBA and eventually played for the CBA Liaoning team.

It’s not because he has poor talent. He is 2.03 meters tall and has a top-notch wingspan of 2.20 meters. He is a real gibbon.

His problem is similar to Draymond Green's, which is that his speed is too slow.

Green became a second-round pick because of his physical fitness and organizational talent, so it was natural that he could only be eliminated.

Back to the present, the slow speed caused Thompson to rely on the swing of his center of gravity to maintain his defensive position.

This gives Xu Yong a lot of room to play. His current dribbling ability makes it easy for him to deal with this type of player.

He dribbled the ball quickly back to the right side, and as he did so, he dropped the ball and then jumped up.

Thompson was completely stunned, but he had good awareness and actually jumped up and rushed out.

Although, this obviously late save did not cause much interference to Xu Yong.

After Xu Yong reached the highest point in the air, he exerted force with his forearms and shot a soul-stirring three-pointer.gif.

There were already exclamations of admiration at the scene. Regardless of whether it went in or not, the shot was so cool.

After passing over Thompson's head, the basketball drew a perfect parabola in the air.

“Swish!”

Accurately hit the basket!

"beep!"

The red light on the sidelines also lit up, and it was just a buzzer-beater!

"Hey, are you the only one defending Xu Yong? It's a six-point shot here and there!" Zhang Weiping said with a big laugh at the CCTV-5 live broadcast booth.

48 to 41.

With Xu Yong's buzzer-beating three-pointer, the mentality of both sides on the court began to change.

Especially for the Devils team, as the lagging side, they were able to narrow the gap at the beginning of the second half, which had a strong psychological suggestion.

They can catch up with the score difference, they can turn the game around!

And at this moment, Sandek quickly made tactical adjustments on the sidelines.

At his signal, the Devils retreated to the defensive end and started a 2-3 zone defense.

He noticed that the Tar Heels' outside shooting had cooled and responded quickly.

Of course, there was an element of gambling in what he did. If the Tar Heels made a three-pointer, it would be counterproductive and would deal a huge blow to morale.

The Tar Heels also had a very high level of tactical literacy. When they saw the Devils set up a double team defense, they passed the ball back and forth from the outside and Lawson quickly fired from a 45-degree angle on the left.

Cooksicks's desperate defense was a little slow, and the interference caused by the ball was very limited.

"when!"

But Lawson missed the shot!

The North Carolina fans at the scene were very excited.

An NCAA game lasts 40 minutes, during which there will be at least 70 to 80 rounds of offense and defense, and 50 to 60 shots. Among these, some rounds and shots are called "critical moments."

This is also why sometimes when we watch a game, we have an intuitive feeling that a certain team loses because they missed a certain shot.

This type of round or shot is not limited to the decisive moment, because not every game has a decisive moment.

Lawson's three-pointer just now was such a critical moment.

Sandek's excited reaction of pumping his fist also illustrates this point.

If Lawson made the three-pointer, he would directly give up the zone defense because he didn't have much at stake.

But now that Lawson missed the shot, the zone defense will become a "weapon of mass destruction" for the Devils, which will put tremendous pressure on the Tar Heels players not only in terms of defensive effectiveness but also psychologically.

In the offense-defense transition, Harden signaled to move to the weak side and then passed the ball directly to Xu Yong to form the strong side.

The Devils are a team. Before, when DeRozan was in good form, the ball would be fed to him more often. Tonight, Xu Yong was in hot form, so naturally the ball would be given to him more often.

And from the buzzer-beater earlier, it was clear that Thompson couldn't defend Xu Yong one-on-one.

Xu Yong received the ball. This time he had plenty of time, so he did not rush to attack. Instead, he held the ball with one hand and observed the defensive formation.

After seeing that the Tar Heels had no intention of double-teaming, he quickly took a drop step and started.

Thompson immediately rushed forward after seeing this, fearing that Xu Yong would make another three-pointer.

When Xu Yong stepped down, his eyes were always on Thompson's shoulders. After seeing Thompson's reaction, he did not pass the ball, but pushed the ground with his right foot and passed Thompson in one step.

"Hey! Look, it's like a wooden stake!"

Following the commentary of Zhang Weiping from CCTV-5, Xu Yong headed straight for the Tar Heels' penalty area.

Ayers cleverly moved a little further to the bottom corner. Hansbrough wanted to come over to assist in defense, but Xu Yong made a fake pass in the direction of Ayers and forced him back.

The next second, Xu Yong pushed off the ground with one leg and flew into the air...

“Bang!”

A direct tomahawk dunk completes the finish.gif!

The Arizona fans at the scene instantly burst into thunderous cheers.

5 points!

Xu Yong scored 5 points in a row at the beginning of the second half, and the Devil team was only 5 points behind!

The live camera was once again given to Jordan.

Jordan looked up at the score with a serious expression.

The sense of crisis was already very strong, but there was nothing he could do. Barkley and Johnson both advised him not to come, but he finally [chose] to come.

Because that's just his personality. It would be fine if you didn't persuade him. The more you persuade him not to come, the more he wants to come.