After overcoming a 16-point deficit in the second half to beat Southern California on Friday night, they seemed to be on their way this time, too, leading 69-58 with 12:22 to go and still up 75-65 with 6:02 to play.

That’s when Georgetown took over. A foul shot by Green, a layup by Sapp, another layup by Green and a dunk by 7-foot-2 Roy Hibbert, and it was 75-72 — and a game again.

“I think the momentum, it’s sort of fleeting. You don’t know when it’s going, where it’s going, when it’s going to come back,” Williams said.

The Hoyas did an even better job on defense, with an active zone that flummoxed Carolina, and once it went to overtime, it was a bad omen for the Tar Heels. They have now lost seven straight games in overtime since 2000.

Green led Georgetown with 22 points and Summers added 20.

Tyler Hansbrough had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels.

“They have some tough players, and down the stretch they hit shots and we didn’t,” Hansbrough said through red, swollen eyes.

This was the fifth time Carolina and Georgetown had played since that epic game at the New Orleans Superdome on March 29, 1982.

A day earlier, the Georgetown and North Carolina players tried to brush aside any relevance of the rematch. To Heel with history, they seemed to say, we weren’t even born then.

Yet the impact of that game left a visible imprint on every one of them. Both teams came out wearing warmups with the logo of Jordan in mid-flight.

Hansbrough seemed almost possessed, looking much more like the beast his teammates call “Psycho T” for his practice mania than the big guy who’s partial to pedicures. It probably helped that he had shucked his plastic mask. The pesky thing protected his broken nose, but clearly bothered him.

Held to a career-low five points in Friday night’s 74-64 win over Southern California, he exceeded that total in the first 2½ minutes of this game.

Giving away five inches to Hibbert, Hansbrough still banged away. He even elbowed his own guy during a scramble under the basket. No one on his side minded.

By the end, though, he couldn’t save Carolina.

“I mean, shots just weren’t falling,” Hansbrough said. “You have times where you get a little bump and it throws you off. Just didn’t go in the hole late in the game.”

Despite their efforts, Georgetown took a 22-17 behind Summers’ 3-point shooting.

North Carolina chipped away, then momentum turned when Thompson was whistled for a technical foul as Georgetown walked the ball upcourt. Moments before the sudden call, official Curtis Shaw shouted three times at Thompson to “Get back!” in the coaching box.

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When the officials were introduced, Georgetown fans quickly pointed out that the Hoyas had lost five of their last six games with Shaw working. He handles a lot of Big East games, but only once when Georgetown played this season — a home loss to Villanova.

Danny Green made both technical foul shots, tying it at 22, and a pair of baskets by Deon Thompson put the Tar Heels ahead. They eventually stretched their lead to 10.

Carolina led 50-44 at the break, getting its final point when Shaw called a shooting foul with eight-tenths of a second left. The officials checked the video monitor to be sure and then, with Thompson staring from the bench and Ewing Sr. standing in the seats, Alex Stepheson stepped to the line.

Williams earlier got a stern look from Shaw, with the official telling the coach he had heard enough complaining. And when a foul was later called on Carolina, the Hoyas fans chimed in with a Bronx cheer — albeit from across the Hudson River.

After the game, Shaw said the technical was a “bench decorum issue.”