“I saw them on film once, they made 19 passes to get the shot they wanted,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.

Not that the Tar Heels coach, seeking the national title that has eluded him for the last 16 seasons, would trade what he’s got.

He is in only the second year of rebuilding a program that went from great under Dean Smith to 8-20 under Matt Doherty. When Roy Williams arrived at his alma mater, he looked at the roster and saw what he had. He called the players in and said they had the talent to make the NCAA tournament in Year One, and to be right where they’re at in Year Two.

“I believed it not because of my coaching,” he said. “I believed it because of the kids.”

The Tar Heels finished the season ranked second behind Illinois in The Associated Press poll. Their meeting in the final is the first between Nos. 1 and 2 since 1975, when UCLA’s John Wooden coached his last game against Kentucky.

North Carolina is a 2½-point favorite.

“We’re not surprised,” Head said. “I mean, people have been saying North Carolina was the better team all year.”

McCants, who averages 16 points a game and is never short on confidence, certainly thinks the Illini are stoppable.

“I feel Dee Brown, being as quick as he is, our length will be able to bother him a lot,” he said. “And Deron (Williams), as quick as he is, I think Raymond will be able to contain him. Luther Head, as high as he can jump, as fast as he can run, I think I’ll be able to defend him.”

If the Tar Heels come out ahead on all those one-on-one matchups, certainly they’ll win, which would give Roy Williams the national title — the only thing missing on his otherwise stellar resume.

And if the abundance of talent furthers the perception that all Williams had to do was roll a ball out to make this team win, he’s fine with that. The coach, an avid golf nut, likens it to the only hole-in-one he’s ever made — an easy little shot on a 118-yard hole.

“I took my wife out there to show her where it was,” Williams said. “She said, ‘Well, that’s so close, that shouldn’t even count.’ If we win the daggum thing and somebody says something about that to me, that’s going to be fine, too.”

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