Iowa St. eliminates Carolina on last-second shot

SAN ANTONIO -- Iowa State's DeAndre Kane did exactly as his coach had instructed, driving for a layup that gave the Cyclones the lead with 1.6 seconds left.

North Carolina never got a chance to answer because Roy Williams' players didn't do what he wanted.

With Williams jumping and gesticulating for a timeout, the Tar Heels inbounded the ball to Nate Britt, who dribbled past midcourt as time expired in Iowa State's 85-83 win Sunday night.

The Cyclones got to celebrate twice. Once as the buzzer sounded, and a few minutes later when officials viewed replays and confirmed that Kane's twisting shot had put Iowa State in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000.

"He's been our Mariano Rivera,'' coach Fred Hoiberg said. "He's been our closer all throughout this season."

Now the third-seeded Cyclones (28-7) are headed to the home of the former Yankees star, New York City, where they will play seventh-seeded Connecticut at Madison Square Garden on Friday night in an East Regional semifinal.

As soon as officials explained that the game was over, Williams -- who collapsed his hands on his knees as Britt surged toward him -- shook Hoiberg's hand as North Carolina began absorbing the heartbreaker.

"We made some mistakes,'' Williams said. "We practice all the time that situation for five guys to be calling timeout, and I'm supposed to be calling timeout, and I was calling timeout. Referees didn't recognize it.

"Let's not anybody lay it on the officials or anything like that. We didn't call the timeout with 1.6 seconds to play."

The Tar Heels (24-10) are gone in the opening weekend for the first time in consecutive seasons under Williams.

Britt said he thought North Carolina got the timeout before the buzzer. "When I looked up at the clock, I saw one-point-something time left," he said. "I saw staff screaming and trying to call timeout."

Kane (24 points, 10 rebounds) said the last possession called for him to attack the basket unless defenders swarmed him as he penetrated.

"But nobody helped,'' he said, "and I made an acrobatic shot and it went in."