Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, April 5, 1993 TAG: 9304050075
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Long
TAR HEELS HAVE THE EDGE ON HURLEYS
North Carolina's run to tonight's NCAA championship basketball game gives the ACC four straight title-game appearances, adding to Duke's three straight.UNC coach Dean Smith, asked about the Carolina-Duke neighborhood rivalry, remarked that Blue Devils star Bobby Hurley and his class were 5-5 against the Tar Heels but that the previous senior group held an edge on Duke.
Then, Smith asked UNC sports information director Rick Brewer if the 5-5 statistic was correct. Brewer said it was, then, from a side of the room at Sunday's media session, Brewer yelled, "Is that Danny Hurley [of Seton Hall, Bobby's younger brother]?"
Smith didn't fumble the pass.
"Well, we're 2-0 against Danny Hurley," the Tar Heels coach said, grinning. "So, against the Hurley family, we're ahead."
\ REAL PAIN: North Carolina point guard Derrick Phelps must be looking forward to Tuesday - the first day of rest after the season.
An injury to Phelps' left hip in Saturday's semifinal win over Kansas only added to his bruises. Besides the hip pain, he's still has a sore tailbone, bruised in a fall against Virginia in the ACC Tournament.
The junior guard missed the season opener with injuries to a knee and calf that happened during the preseason. He got a concussion at North Carolina State, a hip pointer at Wake Forest, a bruised right elbow at Florida State and then the back and tailbone injury.
"I have [foot] blisters, too," he said.
UNC center Eric Montross said, "Derrick is always banged up. He's only got one more night, and then he can rest for a mighty long time."
\ OT TIME: North Carolina would do well to avoid overtime in tonight's championship game. Michigan has won its past four overtime games in NCAA Tournament play.
The Wolverines beat Seton Hall in overtime for the 1989 title. Then, the Fab Five reached their first Final Four a year ago by nudging Ohio State in overtime. In this tournament, Michigan has overtime victories over UCLA and Kentucky.
In their two seasons, the Fab Five is 7-1 in overtime games, the victories in succession after an 88-85 home loss to Duke in December 1991.
By comparison, the Tar Heels have played only one overtime period in the past two seasons - in the East Region final victory over Cincinnati at the Meadowlands eight days ago.
\ 33 BEST: UNC's semifinal victory over Kansas not only put the Tar Heels (33-4) into their seventh NCAA championship game. It also set a school record for wins in a season.
Coach Dean Smith's 32nd Carolina team topped the 32 wins by the 1957 and 1982 NCAA champions and the 1987 team that lost in the NCAA region finals.
Michigan's 31-4 record also includes a school record for wins, topping the 30 victories by the 1989 NCAA champions.
\ INCENTIVE: Michigan's senior backup guard, Rob Pelinka, is the only member of the 1989 Wolverines NCAA title team still in uniform.
On Saturday, he put that experience to good use, although he had only two free throws and no assists in 23 minutes in the victory over Kentucky. What Pelinka did was let sophomore teammate Chris Webber wear his 1989 NCAA championship ring as a reminder.
"Chris put it on his pinkie, and I told him to enjoy it and to go out and help us get him one of his own," Pelinka said.
Webber had a 27-point, 13-rebound effort against the Wildcats.
Afterward he said, "I took that ring and I kept it, and I'm going to put it under my pillow tonight.
"Maybe the tooth fairy - no, the basketball fairy - will bring me something nice on Monday night."
\ BROWN OUT: Had Kentucky gotten past Michigan in Saturday's semifinal, the Wildcats would have played tonight's championship without starting guard Dale Brown.
Brown was injured with just over six minutes left in regulation time against the Wolverines when he dove for a loose ball and landed into a courtside media table in one end zone.
X-rays at the Superdome showed Brown separated his right shoulder. Brown, a senior, and junior Jamal Mashburn, who is headed for the NBA, are the starters that coach Rick Pitino will have to replace from his 30-4 team.
\ PLAY IT AGAIN? The second mentor-protege coaching battle in three years between North Carolina's Dean Smith and Kansas' Roy Williams might be renewed next year.
ESPN executives are trying to put together a "Great Eight" as a two-night attraction for early next season. The network wants to approximate the success of the ACC-Big East Challenge with a pair of doubleheaders.
Among the schools interested in the concept are UNC, Kansas, Louisville and UCLA. Also, the Tar Heels and Jayhawks will be in a powerhouse Preseason NIT field in November that will include California, Massachusetts, St. John's, Cincinnati and Minnesota, which won the postseason NIT last week.
\ ERVIN MAGICAL: At New Orleans, New Orleans' Ervin Johnson had 16 points and 14 rebounds Sunday to lead the West to a 104-95 victory against the East in the National Association of Basketball Coaches All-America Game. Johnson was the game's most valuable player.
\ MCDONALD'S: At Memphis, Tenn., Jerry Stackhouse of Oak Hill Academy scored 27 points Sunday in leading the East to a 105-95 victory in the McDonald's All American high school all-star game.