That was the case again Saturday after his 15th-ranked Tar Heels blew most of a 23-point lead in the last eight minutes before pulling out an 86-79 victory over No. 5 Maryland in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Minutes later, Guthridge walked into the interview room, leaned into the microphone and broke into a devilish grin.

"If the game would have gone on much longer," he deadpanned, "we would have been in trouble."

Instead, North Carolina secured a berth in Sunday's championship game, where a victory would mean a third consecutive ACC title, something no one has accomplished since the Tar Heels from 1967-69.

"This is what we've been working for all season, and right now it's all about being focused," said Max Owens, who powered several key runs that sent the Tar Heels to their eighth consecutive tournament victory.

Third-seeded North Carolina (24-8) shot 53 percent, including a 9-of-16 performance from 3-point range, putting the Tar Heels in position to hold off the late rally by second-seeded Maryland. The Terrapins (26-5) cut their deficit to four points before losing in the conference semifinals for the eighth consecutive time.

"I wish we could have played with our usual defensive intensity earlier in the game," coach Gary Williams said. "The last 10 minutes of the game isn't enough to play as hard as you can."

Maryland used an 18-6 run to help trim North Carolina's lead to 78-74 with 47 seconds remaining. But Owens helped the Tar Heels seal it by making all six of his free throws the rest of the way.

"At the end we lost our poise a little bit, but Maryland is a great team," Guthridge said. "We all knew that Maryland was going to make a great comeback. They are too good of a team."

Owens, a sophomore guard, finished with a career-high 23 points. Ademola Okulaja added 19, Jason Capel 13 and Brendan Haywood 10 as North Carolina advanced to the title game for the 11th time in 13 years.

The Tar Heels will need to beat top-ranked Duke on Sunday to win their ACC-leading 16th championship.

"Everybody knows they beat us twice in the regular season, but we have confidence that we can win," Owens said. "We believe in ourselves, even if nobody else does."

Maryland, which swept the Tar Heels by a combined 30 points in the regular season, lost to North Carolina in the tournament for the seventh consecutive time. The Terrapins haven't made it to the title game since 1984, when Len Bias helped them win their second ACC crown.

Steve Francis scored 19 of his 31 points in the final 10:04 to lead Maryland. The Terrapins made just one field goal in the first eight minutes of the second half, damaging their hopes of extending their seven-game winning streak.

"We weren't moving very well, for whatever reason, but we came back and I thought we still had a chance to win at the end," Williams said. "I was really proud of our team because I've seen a lot of teams quit in that situation."

The Terrapins also got 12 points apiece from Laron Profit and Terence Morris and 11 from Danny Miller.

The Tar Heels combined 6-for-9 shooting from 3-point range with an 18-11 rebounding edge to build a 40-34 halftime lead. They took control with a 16-4 run, capped by a short jumper from Owens, that made it 36-29.

The trend continued in the second half, which North Carolina opened by making two of its first three long-range attempts, boosting its lead to 48-34 on a 3-pointer by Okulaja.

Maryland missed 11 of its first 12 shots in the half and turned it over five times, clearing the way for the Tar Heels to open the half with a 24-7 run. Owens scored the final seven points in the surge to give the Tar Heels a 64-41 lead with 12:06 remaining.