North Carolina and Kentucky’s Elite Eight rematch could be even better than their regular season classic

The most exciting game of college basketball’s 2016-17 regular season was not played in a college gym with a rambunctious home crowd or under the guise of a traditional rivalry. Instead, when the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Kentucky Wildcats met in December, they traveled a combined 4,300 miles to Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena to meet in the CBS Sports Classic.

It was a weird venue and awkward timing for everyone involved. Kentucky had arguably its biggest game of the year four days ahead of it against super-rival Louisville while the Tar Heels were gearing up for conference play in an ACC that was supposed to be historically strong. They came to Las Vegas to test themselves and test each other, and the result was an awe-inspiring 103-100 Kentucky victory that left anyone watching out of breath and praying for a rematch.

We’ll get the rematch on Sunday, and it comes with the highest stakes possible: a Final Four on the line and an offseason of major change ahead for the loser. To look forward to what’s next, you first must look back at what happened in Vegas.

That game was a launching pad for the best player on each team. For Malik Monk, it was a national coming out party that established him as one of John Calipari’s most exciting freshman scorers ever. For Justin Jackson, it solidified his rise in his junior year and put him on the map in the eyes of NBA scouts.

We’ll start with Monk, because his performance demands it. This was, for my money, the finest individual effort of the season: 47 points on 18-of-28 shooting from the field and 8-of-12 shooting from three, buoyed by two mega-clutch triples at the end to secure the win for the Wildcats.

We could gush about this all day, or you could just watch the highlights:

This game was the full Monk experience: no rebounds and only two assists, but flame-throwing scoring ability that was beautiful to watch.

What made it even better was that Jackson was every bit as good.

Jackson matched Monk shot-for-shot in the second half on his way to a career-high 34 points. He hit floaters and proved to pro scouts he could hit threes, too — draining 4-of-7 shots from behind the arc to pace the Heels offense. The two stars brought the best out of each other and it produced great theater:

Monk is currently projected as the No. 5 pick in June’s NBA draft, and Jackson is at No. 12, according to DraftExpress. Their reputations were cemented in round one, but round two offers the real prize.

For Kentucky, it has to take advantage of De’Aaron Fox and Monk while they’re still here. Yes, a new crop of one-and-dones are on the way next year, but that team won’t have athletes in the backcourt like Fox and Monk and will likely be desperate for outside shooting.

Carolina is going to lose its front line of Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks to graduation, as well as Jackson to the draft a year early. Both teams know they have to make this opportunity count.

Kentucky vs. UNC is one-and-dones vs. four-year talent. It’s John Calipari vs. Roy Williams. It’s also blue blood vs. blue blood with the winner going to Phoenix and likely entering the Final Four as the favorite to win it.

It’s all on the line on Sunday. If the game is as good as it was back in December in Las Vegas, we’ll all be winners.