Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 28, 1993 TAG: 9301280241
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
A CLASSIC TAR HEELS COMEBACK
How about that comeback?Having already been embarrassed once in its own building by Florida State, North Carolina found itself on the verge of basketball embarrassment Wednesday night, trailing the Seminoles by 21 points with less than 12 minutes to play.
But 3-point shooting and stifling defense turned it around, and the third-ranked Tar Heels staged one of the greatest rallies ever to beat the Seminoles, 82-77.
The demise of 19th-ranked Florida State was so sudden that it was difficult to believe, much less anticipate.
Still trailing 73-54 with 9:02 left after a rebound goal by FSU's Douglas Edwards, the Heels seemingly were handing over the ACC lead to the Seminoles without a fight.
But North Carolina (17-1, 6-0), which had missed its first 14 3-point attempts, suddenly waxed torrid from outside, hitting five straight, three by Henrik Rodl.
And as good as the offense became, the defense was even better.
Time and again, the previously slick-passing Seminoles turned over the ball against North Carolina's fierce pressure.
In a stunning period of 1:25, the Heels scored 11 straight. Two FSU timeouts didn't slow Carolina down at all.
After the second one, official Lennie Wirtz hit FSU coach Pat Kennedy with a technical foul for jumping off the bench.
Donald Williams, who scored 17 points in the surge, made the two free throws and followed with a jumper as the Heels retained possession.
Just like that, the huge deficit was reduced to 73-69 and there was still 6:47 left. The 15-0 run took just 2:15.
"It seemed like it was over," said Carolina coach Dean Smith. "Then we made some threes, and the momentum switched."
FSU was still ahead, 77-74, when Edwards made a stickback with 2:25 left. It was to be the only field goal and just the fourth point for the 'Noles in the final nine minutes.
Eric Montross, in deep foul trouble in the first half, hit a hook shot, and then Roanoke's George Lynch gave Carolina its first lead since the opening minutes with a typical play.
Lynch zoomed up to intercept a pass by Charlie Ward, the football star, and rammed home a dunk that made it 78-77 with 1:41 left. It was the seventh steal of the game for the forward, and made him Carolina's all-time leader with 200.
By now, Florida State was back on its Heels and swiftly self-destructing. Two more turnovers, making it 14 for the half and 23 for the game, ended its upset hopes.
In particular, Ward was the victim of the intense pressure. The team quarterback, who had directed the attack flawlessly for nearly 30 minutes, had 10 turnovers. In his first six games since joining the team after the Orange Bowl, he had just eight.
"They gave us anything we wanted offensively," Smith said. "And we didn't handle it very well. We were so open we couldn't make anything. But once we made the first one, it got us started."
FSU played a zone most of the way, collapsing inside on UNC's big men. "We couldn't afford to let them go inside," Kennedy said. Oddly, until the Tar Heels got hot, only their three centers were scoring. The trio of pivot-men had 29 of the first 42 points, but just two the rest of the way.
Florida State never did find the range from outside. The Seminoles (13-6, 5-2) were 6-for-25 on 3-point attempts and missed their last 11.
"The 3-point shooting was what turned it around," Kennedy said.
Keywords:
BASKETBALL