Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 23, 1991 TAG: 9103230206
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. LENGTH: Medium
Then it stopped.
Dean Smith kept reaching into that overwhelming talent bag, finally found the proper answers, and North Carolina submerged Eastern Michigan, 93-67, Friday to advance to the NCAA East finals.
The top-seeded Tar Heels (28-5) will play Temple, which defeated Oklahoma State 72-63 in overtime, on Sunday as Smith seeks to return to the Final Four for the eighth time, but the first since his only title in 1982.
Underdog Eastern Michigan had hung around all night, mostly on the outside shooting of Carl Thomas, when, just like that, Carolina decided to end this nonsense.
Leading only 61-57 after Thomas, who had a season-high 27 points, hit a 3-pointer with 12:50 left, the Tar Heels scored the next 15 points.
A sudden incident changed the game. Thomas elbowed Eric Montross in the mouth, drawing blood and some fiery words from Rick Fox.
"It did seem to fire us up," said center Pete Chilcutt. "Maybe it took that to get us going."
It was 5 1/2 minutes before Eastern Michigan (26-7) scored again, and in a span of 11:30, the 12th seed from the Mid-American Conference was outscored 31-6.
All this despite a woeful game by Fox, who had just six points, four fouls and two turnovers.
But nobody has as much depth as Carolina. The Tar Heels managed a 47-42 halftime lead as 7-foot freshman Montross had 11 points, matching his career high, in just eight minutes.
Smith wasn't happy, however. "I thought the first half was all Eastern Michigan," he said. "Maybe I really didn't convince our players they were good."
If it took an errant elbow to get the Tar Heels started, it certainly was an inspiration.
Smith had been unhappy with the officiating until then. "I didn't think the elbow was on purpose," he said, "but it could have been our ball. The way the game was being played, I was begging."
Smith has too many riches on his bench to seek outside help.
Montross, who simply was too much of a load for Eastern Michigan to handle, continued his fine play. He finished with 17 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots as Carolina made it a 76-point margin in three consecutive NCAA blowouts.
Montross had help, too, from Hubert Davis, who had five straight 3-pointers. And in that 15-point outburst that clinched it, Roanoke's George Lynch and Chilcutt contributed six points each.
Smith had been disappointed in his first-half defense, which Eastern Michigan exploited by shooting 58.6 percent. With the intensity level raised after the elbow made Montross and the Heels see red, Eastern Michigan slipped to 31.3 percent in the last half.
"That wasn't the team I've been coaching," Smith said of the first-half performance. And although the veteran coach said he thought his team played well at the start of the second half, it had been outscored 15-14 until Montross took the blow to the chops.
"It was one of those things," said Eastern Michigan coach Ben Braun. "It got them fired up. It stirred up things a little bit."
Smith said his team's depth made the difference down the stretch. "I thought they got tired in the last six or seven minutes."
But, by then, it was over. The 93 points were the most scored against Eastern Michigan all season, and Carolina shot 53 percent even though the reserves missed five layups in the last minute.
Davis, Chilcutt and Montross made 18 of 21 shots.
Following the elbow incident, a TV timeout was called. "I told them let's gain a few points before the next timeout," said Smith, "and we got a bunch."
Asked why he didn't take Montross out after the elbow, and while he was bleeding, Smith said wryly, "He seems to play better when he's hit in the head."
see microfilm for box score
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