Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 20, 1992 TAG: 9203200158
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTS COLUMNIST
DATELINE: CINCINNATI LENGTH: Medium
North Carolina survived an awful shooting day by scoring leader Hubert Davis and avoided becoming the first team eliminated from the 64-team field by nudging Miami of Ohio 68-63.
The Tar Heels advanced to Saturday's Southeast Regional second round at Riverfront Coliseum because of a career day by 7-foot center Eric Montross and a very late steal by George Lynch when North Carolina was clinging to a one-point lead.
"Sometimes things bounce your way, sometimes they don't," said Redskins coach Joby Wright.
Smith won his 48th game in 22 NCAA Tournaments, surpassing UCLA's John Wooden atop the coaching victories list. UNC's 22nd win in 31 games wasn't sealed, however, until Jamie Mercurio's last bomb did everything but go through the basket.
Mercurio took 14 of his 15 shots from 3-point range and made eight of them, including one from the depths of the right corner with 1:08 left to cut UNC's lead to 64-61.
The Tar Heels, who had trailed by seven points early in the second half, then committed three major errors, compounding poor free-throw shooting down the stretch.
After UNC managed a timeout to avoid a five-second call on an inbounds play, the Redskins got the whistle they thought they had deserved on the same play just before the timeout.
Then UNC big man Kevin Salvadori fouled Miami's David Scott - who was shooting a 3-pointer - with 51 seconds left. Scott, an 83 percent free-throw shooter, made two of three to trim the Tar Heels' lead to one.
On the next possession, Davis was whistled for five seconds in a closely guarded situation, turning over the ball with 32 seconds left. Miami didn't get a shot, however.
Then Redskins center John McKenna tried a pass to Scott, who had escaped the defense of Henrik Rodl on a pick. Lynch switched men, however, and the Roanoker stepped between Scott and the ball.
"I just went to the ball," Lynch said. "The guy out of bounds [Mercurio, making the inbounds pass to McKenna] didn't see me behind him, and I sneaked around and got my hands on the ball."
Scott, eyes reddened after his final game, said of Lynch, "I saw John get the pass and start to get the ball to me. I never saw Lynch coming."
Lynch's theft, with 25 seconds left, led to two Davis free throws for a 66-63 lead. To no one's surprise in the capacity Riverfront crowd, Mercurio got Miami's shot to tie.
"I couldn't take my normal jumper," said the senior, who torched UNC after scoring only six points in three Mid-American Conference Tournament games. "I was kind of deep, and I let it go strong. I thought it had a chance."
Mercurio's shot hit the backboard, caromed off the front of the rim and bounced away. Davis' two free throws with 2.8 seconds left finished the fourth-seeded Tar Heels' advance.
"When Mercurio hit that one from the corner, it was unbelieveable," Smith said. "When he let that last one go, when it went off the backboard I thought, `Oh, gosh, that's going in, too.' "
Smith spent the afternoon waiting for something Davis shot to go in. The senior was 2-of-17 from the floor but made all 11 of his free throws, including the four clinchers after UNC went through a late stretch when it sank only three of eight free throws at game-clinching time.
Miami (23-8) went home to nearby Oxford only because it couldn't handle massive Montross, who muscled his way to career highs of 22 points and 13 rebounds, including six stickback baskets.
"He was a load for us," Wright said. "Montross got some easy baskets, because we couldn't stop him. We weren't strong enough to force him out."
Montross scored three consecutive baskets midway through the second half, taking the Tar Heels from a three-point deficit to a 52-51 lead with 9:21 left.
Those goals seemed to awaken the Tar Heels, who hadn't scored a field goal in the first 6 1/2 minutes after halftime. UNC's defensive pressure also troubled Miami, which committed 21 turnovers.
Carolina won despite shooting 32 percent in the second half and being outrebounded for the game by the smaller Redskins. If the Tar Heels are to advance to a 12th-straight Sweet 16 appearance, they will need a much better performance Saturday against Alabama.
"We were lucky everything worked out," Davis said. \
see microfilm for box score
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro and New River editions.