EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — John Thompson III and Patrick Ewing Jr. could only hope, the same way their dads did a generation ago.

On this night, it was different. A North Carolina freshman missed.

Twenty-five years later, Georgetown had gotten even.

In an NCAA tournament full of incredible rallies, it was the Hoyas' turn. They rallied from 11 down in the second half, then ripped off 14 straight points in overtime to stun the top-seeded Tar Heels 96-84 in the East Regional final Sunday.

The Hoyas are headed back to the Final Four for the first time since 1985, taking on Ohio State next Saturday in Atlanta.

"The comparisons to Pop's teams, much like the talk about Big Pat, Little Pat, Big John, Little John, you guys can do that," Little John said.

"For us to figure out how to hold on and pull away with a win, against that team is special."

Especially because of what happened to them on March 29, 1982, when John Thompson Jr. was their coach and Patrick Ewing was the franchise. Facing those same Tar Heels, for goodness sakes, they were denied the national championship when a North Carolina freshman named Michael Jordan made the go-ahead jumper.

These Hoyas (30-6) won with Thompson calling the backdoor plays he learned at Princeton and young Ewing making key contributions.

They were helped by an amazing collapse from Carolina (31-7), which made only one of 23 field goal attempts, including its first 12 in overtime, over a 15-minute span after seemingly having the game in hand.

"This is an extremely disappointing time for our team. It's not the way you want your season to end," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. "Congratulations to Georgetown and Young John. Young John is like family to me."

It's a family like none other in college basketball, the first father-son duo to coach teams into the Final Four, much less at the same school.

When it was over, Thompson shook hands with Williams and everyone else on the North Carolina side, never showing a smile. Tough game, good game, he told them.

Then it was time to walk across the court — to the biggest bear hug he could imagine.

"You've been complaining about the bus being rickety, but the ride home is going to be good tonight," his dad told him.

"Isn't it?" the son said.

After Georgetown's Jonathan Wallace hit a 3 that tied it at 81 with 31 seconds left in regulation, the Tar Heels had a chance to win it, but freshman Wayne Ellington missed an open jumper from the wing right before the buzzer and Ewing grabbed the rebound, prompting his famous father to high-five everyone near him in the stands.

There would be no game-winning shot for the Tar Heels a la 1982, when the Jordan legend was born with a 17-foot jumper with 17 seconds left, lifting Carolina over Georgetown 63-62.

The Hoyas waited a long time to avenge that defeat, and when they did, it unleashed a celebration a quarter of a century in the making.

ST. LOUIS — Joakim Noah stood at midcourt, glaring and beating his chest. The Florida fans were showering him with love, but all he heard was hate."There's been such a circus around this team, so many distraction and I feel like everybody is trying to divide us," Noah said after Florida beat third-seeded Oregon 85-77 in the Midwest Regional final on Sunday."It's just making us bond. We realize all we have is each other. That's the only thing that really matters."That and another title.Noah, Al Horford and Corey Brewer didn't turn their backs on fat NBA contracts — temporarily, at least — just so they could to take another econ class. No, the Gators (33-5) want to be the first team since Duke in 1991-92 to win back-to-back basketball titles — and the first ever to do it with the same five starters.To do it, though, they'll have to first get by UCLA in the national semifinals Saturday. It's a rematch of last year's championship game, which Florida won in a rout, 73-57."They are better than a year ago, and present a great challenge for us," UCLA coach Ben Howland said. "They have no weaknesses."Noah had 14 points and 14 rebounds Sunday, Horford had only six points and seven rebounds, and was never much of a factor.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — With good-natured shoves and claps, the UCLA Bruins formed a circle around Arron Afflalo — the rightful center of attention.In an exceptional second half that should help erase memories of his past mediocrity in big games, Afflalo scored 15 of his 24 points and the Bruins held off the top-seeded Jayhawks for a 68-55 victory in the West Regional final Saturday night.Afflalo, hiding behind the souvenir hat and T-shirt from the biggest game of his career, tried to be just one of the guys — even though he was the main reason UCLA is heading back to the Final Four for a second consecutive season.Darren Collison added 14 points and four big free throws in the final seconds while leading the Bruins' stellar defensive effort — but whenever the Bruins faced offensive trouble, Afflalo seemed to solve it, hitting a big shot or drawing the defense to set up a teammate.

SAN ANTONIO — Ohio State coach Thad Matta looked down the bench and locked eyes with Greg Oden.The big man, sitting out with three fouls, nodded."Let's go," Matta told him, adding his usual advice in such situations: "Play real hard and don't foul anybody."Oden followed orders perfectly, dominating like only a 7-footer can over the decisive stretch in the second half to carry the top-seeded Buckeyes past Memphis 92-76 and into the Final Four.Oden's numbers in Saturday's South Regional championship weren't huge: 17 points, nine rebounds.His presence was.While Oden was on the bench with his third foul, Ohio State (34-3) went from five points up to five points down. Then the fabulous freshman went back in and everything changed again.Controlling the paint on offense and defense, he triggered a 20-8 surge that put the Buckeyes back in charge. The second-seeded Tigers (33-4) tried hanging in by fouling, but Ohio State foiled that plan by making 20 straight free throws. The Buckeyes' 21st straight win takes them to Atlanta next weekend.