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But the No. 15 Buckeyes made shot after shot down the stretch and triggered a frenzied ending before time ran out and the No. 6 Tar Heels held on for a 77-73 victory in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic before 15,635 at Madison Square Garden.

"They started hitting shots. I mean, give credit to Ohio State and Jon Diebler and Evan Turner and David Lighty. They just hit some big shots and that got them back into the game," said Carolina forward Deon Thompson, who finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks.

"Sometimes you gotta win ugly, man, and we definitely pulled it out."

Will Graves scored 14 points, Marcus Ginyard added 13 points and Larry Drew had 11 points and a career-high 8 assists for the defending NCAA champion Heels (4-0). They advanced to meet Syracuse (3-0) in Friday's championship game (7 p.m., ESPN2). Ohio State will face Cal in the consolation game at 5.

The Orange routed No. 13 Cal, 95-73, in the night's first semifinal behind Scoop Jardine's 22 points and Wesley Johnson's 17 points and 11 rebounds.

"I think this next game, these teams are bigger, stronger, more physical teams," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said in reference to Carolina and Ohio State (2-1). "It will be a great test for us. We are just trying to find our way and hopefully get there."

"Jimmy's a good friend, we play golf together, as a matter of fact I owe him some money," Carolina coach Roy Williams said of Boeheim, whose team beat Williams' Kansas club in the 2003 NCAA championship game.

After Carolina took a 38-24 halftime lead, the Buckeyes outscored the Heels 49-39 after the break.

"They fought their way back," said Drew, who made two clutch foul shots with 11.3 seconds left. "It was a hard-fought win for us."

Turner, a 6-7 junior guard who is Ohio State's star, led the Buckeyes with 23 points and 11 rebounds, Diebler added 17 points and Lighty had 11.

Ohio State closed to within 74-70 on layup by Lighty with 22 seconds remaining.

Drew made 1-of-2 free throws to push it to 75-70 but Diebler answered with a 3-pointer to make it 75-73 with 15 seconds left.

P.J. Hill committed a foul on Dew with 11.3 seconds left and he made both foul shots for a 77-73 lead.

William Buford missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Heels outshot the Buckeyes (49 percent to 42 percent) and held Ohio State to just 29 percent shooting from beyond the arc (6-for-21).

Carolina jumped out to a 7-0 lead as the 6-foot-10 Ed Davis and the 6-9 Thompson dominated Ohio State in the paint.

The Heels led 15-5, 26-11 and 31-15 before settling for a 38-24 halftime lead.

Carolina limited the Buckeyes to just 29 percent shooting in the first half (9-for-31), while converting 48 percent and outscoring Ohio State 20-14 in the paint.

Carolina improved to 27-8 all-time at Madison Square Garden. Ginyard and Thompson are the only Heels to have played in this arena before.

In his only previous appearance in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, coach Williams led Kansas to the title in 2000 with victories over UCLA and St. John's.

In order to win this event again, the Heels will have to contend with Syracuse's vaunted 2-3 zone, which held Cal to just 40 percent shooting and 30 percent (6-for-20) from beyond the arc.

Syracuse also forced 15 Cal turnovers and blocked nine shots.

Jardine was especially effective for the Orange, adding 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals to his game-high point total.

Boeheim is touting Johnson, a 6-7 junior forward who transferred from Iowa State, as a potential Big East Player of the Year and said he only showed about "50 percent of what he can do" against the Golden Bears.