THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 25, 1995 TAG: 9503250486
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BIRMINGHAM, ALA. LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
Needless to say, with a team favored to win the NCAA tournament, Kentucky coach Rick Pitino is much more comfortable playing North Carolina in the Southeast Region championship game tonight than he once was.
The two teams with the most victories in NCAA Division I history have not met since 1990, Pitino's first year at Kentucky.
North Carolina won, 84-81, and soon afterwards Pitino asked his athletics director, C.M. Newton, to cancel the remaining four games of the series.
``I didn't like the officiating we got at Chapel Hill,'' Pitino quipped Friday.
Actually, Pitino said, he though his Wildcats, weakened by NCAA penalties, were no match for the perenially strong Tar Heels.
``I made a mistake in that situation,'' Pitino said.
``I felt after looking at the personnel we had after the first year that we could not compete with them with the players we had in the program.
``We just got lucky the second year. It was much better (29-7) than I anticipated and I wished that we did have them back at that point.''
Still, Pitino has made no move to return North Carolina to his schedule, and admits he isn't likely to do so in the future.
So, if today's game in the Birmingham Civic Center were not already big enough - with the winner advancing to the Final Four, a rare matchup between the NCAA's premier programs makes it a marquee attraction.
Indeed, many observers believe this is the game of the tournament, with the winner continuing on to the national championship.
Neither team has been pushed to the buzzer yet in the tournament and they are playing their best basketball of the season.
Kentucky (28-4), riding a 10-game winning streak, blew out Arizona State, 97-73, while North Carolina (27-5) led all the way for a 74-64 victory over Georgetown in Thursday night's semifinals.
The Wildcats, who have lost their last five against UNC, are considered a slight favorite because of their extraordinary depth.
They go 10 deep, and Pitino says there is no dropoff in talent when he makes a substitution.
North Carolina may have the best starting five in the tournament, but there is a big dropoff when coach Dean Smith goes to his bench.
``You can't pick out just one or two outstanding players on our team, but for them you know it is Rasheed Wallace and Jerry Stackhouse,'' Pitino said.
The Tar Heel starters are a fragile group, too.
Guard Jeff McInnis aggravated an old groin injury against Georgetown and did not practice Friday.
``We are not sure if he will play or not,'' Smith said.
``It feels a lot better than it did,'' McInnis said. ``I'm hoping to play.''
Senior guard Donald Williams was treating his left knee for tendinitis Friday and Wallace still is not fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered two weeks ago.
``Kentucky is a 2-1 favorite to win the tournament and we are listed at 9-1,'' said Smith, who rarely finds his team in an underdog role.
``This is the best Kentucky team I've ever seen, and I think I have seen them all. Still, I think we have a chance and we'll try to be ready to play very well.''
The Tar Heels even seemed excited about playing Kentucky.
``It means more playing a team that has been ranked among the top five all season than playing a Cinderella team that knocked them off,'' Stackhouse said.
Wallace agreed, saying, ``You always want to play the best.''
Both said they are aware of the traditional rivalry between the schools.
North Carolina is the winningest school in history with a 1,625-576 record, followed by Kentucky, 1,616-517-1.
``The media and fans make more of that hype than we do,'' Stackhouse said. ``This is a new era, and the only thing we are playing for is to get to the Final Four.''
But, if the game needed more hype, both Stackhouse and Wallace were willing to provide it.
``Oh, definitely, it is the biggest game of my life,'' Stackhouse said.
UNC and Kentucky have met only once previously in a regional championship game, with the Tar Heels winning, 79-72, in the 1977 East finals at College Park, Md. by CNB