North Carolina’s point guard takes home the NCAA Tournament’s top individual award
Joel Berry II, the North Carolina Tar Heels’ junior point guard, was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player after the Heels’ 71-65 win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Monday night.
Berry led all scorers in the national title game with 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting. He finished just 4-of-13 from behind the arc, but a timely 3-pointer in response to a Nigel Williams-Goss 3 to give the Tar Heels a 62-60 lead with 4:20 remaining felt like the biggest shot of the game.
The junior also added six assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block to round out his stat line for the night.
Berry’s title game performance was even more significant because it came on the back of a tough outing in the national semifinal against Oregon. The 6-foot point guard finished with just 11 points on 2-of-14 shooting in North Carolina’s 77-76 win over the Ducks as he seemed unable to find his footing against the Oregon defense.
For much of the tournament, the junior struggled with a pair of ankle injuries that put his status for the final weekend in doubt. Luckily, Berry seemed recovered just a day after playing against Oregon. He told the media on the day off, “I woke up this morning and didn’t have any stiffness. That was my biggest worry. And I was able to get right up out of bed and just walk normally.”
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Berry’s injuries obviously didn’t play a factor in his big performance on Monday night just one year removed from one of the most painful losses in North Carolina program history. Now, Berry will be able to look back on his college career with additional fondness with not only a national championship trophy, but a Most Outstanding Player award under his belt.