Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 22, 1992 TAG: 9203220066
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk Sports Columnist
DATELINE: CINCINNATI LENGTH: Long
The game that took North Carolina to its 12th straight NCAA Sweet 16 visit was one of bitterness.
In a Southeast Regional second-round battle punctuated by defense and diatribe, the Tar Heels elbowed past Alabama 64-55 Saturday afternoon at Riverfront Coliseum.
The victory moves the Southeast's fourth-seeded Tar Heels into the round of 16 Friday night against third-ranked Ohio State (25-5) in Lexington, Ky. The Buckeyes, seeded first in the region, advanced with a 78-55 romp over Connecticut. The other two regional semifinalists will be determined today in Atlanta.
UNC (23-9) virtually lost scoring leader Hubert Davis to a hurt ankle with 7:39 to play, but held on primarily by controlling tempo and shutting down a Crimson Tide high-scoring trio.
Frustrated by its offensive ineptitude, Alabama began playing with its elbows, and Carolina didn't back down. Tar Heels center Eric Montross was on the bench with three fouls only 11 minutes into the game, but the 13th-ranked Tide's shooting was uglier than coach Wimp Sanderson's plaid jacket.
"North Carolina did an excellent job of double-teaming our best shooters and cutting off the avenues to the basket," Sanderson said. "If you don't rebound defensively and give them third and fourth shots as we did, you're not going to beat a team like North Carolina."
Forward George Lynch got the unenviable defensive assignment on Alabama's versatile Robert Horry. The Roanoker gave up two inches to Horry, but only 14 points. Davis, who went down with a twisted left ankle, slowed 'Bama scoring leader James Robinson. The Tide's other big point man, forward Latrell Sprewell, was even worse.
Alabama shot only 29 percent, a figure that improved in the futile catch-up effort. In finishing a 26-9 season, Alabama had its lowest scoring output of the year. Sanderson's program hasn't had fewer points since a 54-49 win at Richmond in November 1988, 122 games ago.
"We thought we had to do it defensively," UNC coach Dean Smith said. "Our goal was to stop those three main scorers, and we did that, especially in the first half.
"What we contributed was eight unforced turnovers [among 12 giveaways] on our fast break. That's just unheard of. I was extremely disappointed in our team offensively in the first half."
The Tar Heels led 31-25 at the break and could have been printing itineraries for their Friday regional trip to Rupp Arena without the miscues. Even with Montross sitting, Alabama couldn't penetrate the UNC defensive curtain, and couldn't make 3-pointers, either.
Horry was 6 of 15 from the field, Sprewell 2 of 15 and Robinson 9 of 23, including 4 of 13 from beyond the arc. Robinson, the Tide's quick guard, personally kept his team in the game, getting 16 of 'Bama's 18 points in a nine-minute span down the stretch.
Carolina had an impressive 49-31 rebounding advantage, and combined with Alabama's offensive struggles, the game turned ugly. UNC backup center Kevin Salvadori was called for two elbowing fouls in a two-minute span of the second half, and one minute later Montross crashed to the floor after an uncalled elbow from Horry.
Then Lynch picked up his fourth personal with 8:03 left and Davis, on a missed layup attempt, rolled over his already sore left ankle with 7:38 to go. Robinson hit a trey on the next possession to cut the Tar Heels' lead to 45-40.
Carolina scored on Henrik Rodl's dunk and then Horry's mouth got him in more trouble than his elbow. When Alabama center Cedric Moore was whistled for shoving Montross down low, Horry got a technical foul from official Tom Lopes.
"I thought it had a big impact on the game," Horry said. "All I told [Lopes] was to call it both ways and I guess he was tired of me talking to him. I should have kept my mouth shut."
Lynch said Horry "at first asked the referee to call it both ways, and I think they were. But when you're down, you don't see it like they're calling it both ways. Then [Horry] started telling him instead of asking him. I guess [Lopes] didn't like the way he was telling him."
Montross made his two free throws, and Smith inserted a gimpy Davis to make the two technical throws. That put the UNC lead at 11. Carolina committed consecutive turnovers on its next two possessions, instead of closing out the Tide.
It was evident Alabama wasn't going to catch UNC, although the Tide closed the difference to five with 1:39 left. Although UNC made only five of its final 10 free throws, Alabama remained an offensive horror show.
"We had our chances," Sanderson said. "We caused some turnovers . . . 23 is a lot for a decent team. The thing is, we didn't capitalize on them. They did capitalize. No excuses, North Carolina just beat us." \
see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB