Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993 TAG: 9301210219
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
HEELS PLAY LIKE NO. 1 MATERIAL
Are they No. 1?"I think there are a lot of great teams," Eric Montross said Wednesday after North Carolina mauled Virginia, 80-58, dropping the last Division I unbeaten team from the ranks. "A lot of things can happen. But we're a good team that can get better."
Montross, by the way, dominated the inside in the second half against the Cavs for Carolina, ranked No. 3 nationally.
Thanks to 7-footer Montross, equally tall Kevin Salvadori, and 6-8 Roanoker George Lynch, Carolina grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and crunched Virginia on the glass. This is the same UVa team that battered Duke inside three days before.
Are they No. 1?
"I don't believe in rankings," said Salvadori, who had a superb game with a team-high 14 points and five rebounds in just 17 minutes. "The NCAA determines which team is No. 1. I think we can compete with the best."
In other words, typical Carolina answers from players on a typical Tar Heels team.
Are they No. 1? With five minutes left, their fired-up students began the "We're No. 1 cheer." At proud Carolina, that sort of thing doesn't happen. But it did.
"I don't listen to the fans," said Lynch, the 6-8 senior who scored a dozen points and was his usual whirling dervish self on the glass. He had a game-high 11 rebounds, six offensive. "They have their opinions. The press has their opinions."
But these Heels sent a message to the team that trashed Duke at Cameron, that hadn't lost since last year's ACC Tournament.
"Last year they beat us badly on the boards [at Charlottesville]," Salvadori said. "They're not as tall but they are physical. I knew we'd have to go and play hard."
Virginia was so conscious of the UNC big men that it packed its defense in at the start, keeping the ball from Montross.
So that left Henrik Rodl open. He had 11 points by halftime, including three straight 3-pointers. He didn't shoot in the second half - and didn't need to, because the ball was going inside. "I've been shooting well in practice," he said. "I just took what was there."
"It was more of me making adjustments," said man-mountain Montross of his early lack of production. "In the first half, I wasn't working to get the ball and they had three guys on me. But we got the ball to Henrik and he made them."
Most of the year, Salvadori has been Montross' relief pitcher. Against UVa they played mostly together. "We do that in practice," Montross said. "I was thrilled for Kevin. He's been in a slump, or that's what they say."
In the first half, Montross got one field goal with 10 seconds to play. Guard Derrick Phelps didn't score. Brian Reese had one point. But the reserves had the Heels ahead by seven.
"The guys off the bench have played well all year," said Lynch.
As usual, Dean Smith ran his sub-a-minute rotation. Nobody played more than 29 minutes, and eight played at least 17.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL