GLENDALE, Ariz. — Roy Williams could hear his own footsteps as he padded through the near-silent locker room, still trying to wrap his mind around a question that couldn’t be answered: What do you say to a group of players who did nothing wrong, but lost anyway?

In some form or other, that question has lingered at North Carolina all season. With a win over Oregon in the Final Four on Saturday, the Tar Heels (31-7) will be back to the title game, where, last year, Villanova unraveled their dreams with one dagger of a shot — a game-winning 3 with the buzzer sounding.

“The most inadequate feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” Williams called the aftermath of the game. “What I did is, I tried to tell them, let’s focus on using this feeling as fuel, as motivation, to work extremely hard in the offseason.”

Most of the key players from last year’s Tar Heels — among them, Joel Berry II, Isaiah Hicks and Justin Jackson — are back. They have a group-texting channel named, simply, “Redemption.”

Oregon (33-5) had title dreams last year, too.

The Ducks were a No. 1 seed, but in an NCAA Tournament that veered off the rails, guard Dillon Brooks got upbraided by the losing coach in the Sweet 16, Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who lectured him in the handshake line for jacking up (and making) an uncontested 3 while the teams were running out the clock. Then, the top-seeded Ducks ran into Buddy Hield in the Elite Eight .

South Carolina vs. Gonzaga

GLENDALE, Ariz. — South Carolina and Gonzaga have a lot more in common than just being in their first Final Four.

Experience has been a key word around the two programs this week in advance of their national semifinal game on Saturday.

A bigger word that applies is defense. They don’t play the same style but they both are effective in holding down an opponent.

Guard Duane Notice is the defensive focal point for seventh-seeded South Carolina.

“Just as your point guard initiates your offense, your on-ball defender initiates your defense,” Gamecocks coach Frank Martin said Friday. “When your point guard’s good offensively, your team is good offensively. When your on-ball guard is good defensively, your team is good defensively. They go hand in hand.”

The man top-seeded Gonzaga (36-1) relies on to lead its defense is 7-foot-1 center Przemek Karnowski.

“The rim protection that we have this year is different than anything we’ve been able to put out there,” Bulldogs coach Mark Few said. “We got the bulk, the strength, size of Karnowski which allows us to not have to double-team.”