ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603180048
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
When Tic Price recalls his first NCAA Tournament game as a head coach, he'll probably only want to remember the first four minutes.
Against a nearby program he grew up admiring in Danville, Price's club built a 15-5 lead. After that, the sideline experience for the Virginia Tech alumnus was more excruciating than the matchup's East Regional seeds could have predicted.
North Carolina may be only the region's sixth seed this year, but the Tar Heels started their 30th consecutive postseason appearance impressively, pasting New Orleans 83-62 in the East's first-round nightcap Friday.
``We thought if we could outrebound them and hold them to 36 percent shooting, we'd have a chance,'' Price said. ``We didn't do either. We were really dominated on the boards [46-27].
``Their size was a big difference. And we didn't show any patience or poise. Carolina had a lot to do with that.''
The Tar Heels (21-10) will seek their 15th ``Sweet 16'' trip in 16 years when they face eighth-ranked Texas Tech (29-1) here at 2:40 p.m. Sunday The winner moves into an East Regional semifinal Thursday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
``They're the third seed, we're sixth,'' UNC coach Dean Smith said of the Red Raiders. ``We'll be back Sunday in our Carolina blue [road] uniforms, but we're just happy to be back.''
Friday's romp was UNC's first appearance in Richmond Coliseum history, but the 25th-ranked Tar Heels had to love the partisan, sold-out atmosphere. It was the Privateers who turned blue, however.
For the first four minutes, New Orleans shot the lights out. In the final 16 minutes of the first half, however, Price's club played like the lights were out.
The Privateers (21-9) hushed the well-Heeled crowd by hitting their first six shots - including a trio of 3-pointers - to take a quick 10-point lead.
Suddenly, it was as if the Privateers realized there was more difference between UNC and UNO than one Scrabble tile.
The Sun Belt Conference tournament champions managed only 10 points the remainder of the half, and the Heels - playing in the NCAA Tournament for a record 22nd consecutive season - refused to help their struggling foe after giving up 20 points in only 6 1/2 minutes.
It only got worse for 11th-seeded New Orleans after halftime.
see microfilm for box score
LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines KEYWORDS: BASKETBALLby CNB