EAST REGIONAL FINAL: THOMPSON ALL SMILES FOR HOYAS G'TOWN 96, UNC 84.

Byline: MATTHEW KREDELL

Staff Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD -- Roy Hibbert walked to the bench down by 10 points with just over six minutes to play, worried that Georgetown's season was slipping away.

Then he looked at his coach.

"He was smiling," the 7-foot-2 center said of John Thompson III. "It's something to see when the game is on the line in the NCAA Tournament, you're frantic and he's smiling. He said, 'We've been in this situation before and we're going to pull it out.' When coach is calm, we're calm."

The Hoyas made a methodical rally, tying the game on a 3-pointer by Jonathan Wallace at the end of regulation and scoring the first 14 points in overtime to stun top-seeded North Carolina 96-84 Sunday in the East Regional final at Continental Airlines Arena.

Georgetown advances to the Final Four for the first time since 1985, denying the Tar Heels an opportunity to keep pace with UCLA with an NCAA-leading 17th trip. The Hoyas face Ohio State in Atlanta on Saturday.

Thompson was all smiles on the court after the game, leading Hoyas fans in a chant of "We are Georgetown."

Now the Hoyas have their own North Carolina-Georgetown classic to speak of whenever anyone brings up the 1982 game where Tar Heels freshman Michael Jordan hit the winning shot in the NCAA Championship game.

John Thompson Jr. coached that team and Patrick Ewing was Georgetown's standout player, so it was only fitting that the team to gain vengeance was coached by Thompson III and had Ewing Jr. in a supporting role.

The elder Thompson watched from the back corner of the post-game press conference as his son spoke.

North Carolina took a 75-65 lead with 7:19 remaining, then made just one of its final nine shots in regulation.

Georgetown chipped away at the deficit with easy scoring opportunities inside, first with a layup from point guard Jessie Sapp, then a layup by forward Jeff Green and a dunk from Hibbert.

Down 81-78 with 45 seconds left, the Hoyas got the ball to Wallace, the team's best 3-point shooter who entered the game with a 47.8-percent clip. The junior came around a screen to drain an open shot with 31 seconds left.

"To get a shot like that to go down for us felt pretty good," Wallace said. "... It gave us confidence going into the overtime period."

North Carolina had one last chance in regulation, but freshman Wayne Ellington missed a 3-pointer in the final seconds.

Overtime snowballed in Georgetown's favor much the way the Tar Heels dominated USC in the second half Friday.

The Tar Heels started hoisting up 3-pointers in an attempt to get back into the game, but they weren't going down. It was 95-81 Georgetown before North Carolina scored its only points in overtime on a 3-pointer from Ty Lawson.

"I would give every cent I have right now for my team to be out there cutting down those nets and feeling those things that Georgetown players are feeling," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said, his voice cracking with emotion. "Life is never as sweet as you think it could possibly be. I told my youngsters they have to be able to handle this extremely disappointing time."

North Carolina jumped out to an 11-point lead thanks to forward Tyler Hansbrough, who needed less than three minutes to outdo his five-point performance against USC. The sophomore forward, who could have played his last game for the Tar Heels, scored 10 of his team's first 15 points on the way to 26 points and 11 rebounds.

All five Georgetown starters scored in double figures for the first time this season.

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