North Carolina handles Butler to reach Elite Eight

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Top-seeded North Carolina certainly looked the part Friday night in the South Regional semifinals at FedEx Forum.

Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Justin Jackson's 24 points, five rebounds and five assists led the Tar Heels to a 92-80 elimination of fourth-seeded Butler, advancing them to Sunday's regional final against the UCLA-Kentucky survivor.

Joel Berry added 26 points and reserve forward Luke Maye turned in the best game of his career with 16 points and 12 rebounds, his first double-double. Kennedy Meeks contributed 11 rebounds for North Carolina (30-7).

Andrew Chrabascz paced the Bulldogs (25-9) with 21 points, Kelan Martin hit for 16 and Kamar Baldwin scored 14. However, Butler shot only 43.5 percent from the field and couldn't find the range on 3-pointers, going 8 of 28.

The Tar Heels opened their first double-figure lead by the second TV timeout in the first half and led by at least 10 points for the final 24 minutes, flicking aside the Bulldogs' brief spurts with their ability to score easily and control the boards.

Before tipoff, Butler was allowing just 68.2 points per game. North Carolina put up 30 in the first 10 minutes and finished with the most points the defensive-minded Bulldogs allowed all season. It also claimed a 36-25 advantage on the glass.

North Carolina dictated tempo during the first half, finding a way to make Butler play a step faster than it would have probably preferred offensively, and opened a big lead when it made 11 of its first 14 shots from the floor.

Jackson and Berry each got to double figures by the nine-minute mark of the half, but the big surprise was Maye's 14 points, which surpassed his previous career high of 13 set last month at N.C. State.

The Tar Heels led by as many as 20 late in the half and settled for a 52-36 halftime lead after shooting nearly 53 percent from the field and going 8 of 17 on 3-pointers. The Bulldogs hit only 43.3 percent from the floor and were dominated on the boards 22-11.

NOTES: North Carolina entered the game leading Division I in offensive rebound percentage at 42.9. It's one of only three teams to collect more than 40 percent of its misses. ... Butler came into the game ninth in Division I in fewest turnovers per game at just 10.2. ... Tar Heels G Joel Berry (ankle) started despite being hobbled at times in a 72-65 win on Sunday night over Arkansas.

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