ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, January 27, 1997 TAG: 9701280023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C.
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
Some things never change.
For only the second time since Clemson first visited this bastion of basketball 71 seasons ago, the Tigers were ranked ahead of North Carolina.
One thing wasn't different Sunday at the stuffed Smith Center, however. It was who had the highest number on the scoreboard.
The players, coaches and arenas change, but the Tigers still haven't won in 43 trips to this Tobacco Road stop. Carolina's 61-48 ACC victory wasn't difficult to explain, either.
Each team had 18 field goals. The Heels got theirs in 34 fewer shots. Second-ranked Clemson (16-3 overall, 5-2 ACC) lost its second consecutive game despite having 20 more offensive rebounds and four fewer turnovers than No.19 UNC (12-5, 3-4).
``My players don't even know what kind of player [UNC great and now assistant coach] Phil Ford was, so they sure as hell don't know what happened 42 years ago,'' said Rick Barnes, the Tigers' coach. ``I don't think the streak matters.
``When people ask me about it, I say, one, everybody has a tough time here. And if they really need an explanation, all they have to do is take their [butt] out there and look up in the rafters.''
Clemson might as well have been trying to shoot over those championship-banner draped beams at the pinnacle of the Dean Dome. The Tigers' this season.
``We had our shots,'' said Clemson forward Vincent Whitt. ``It wasn't anything North Carolina was doing. Our shots just weren't dropping.''
The Tar Heels, however, used their superior size and strength to their advantage, particularly in the second half, when forward Antawn Jamison scored 15 of his 22 points.
Barnes, whose team was coming off a home-floor setback to No. 4 Wake Forest on Thursday, thought the Heels loved only half of the Tigers' game.
``If we continue to play with the defensive effort we had in this game, we'll be OK,'' the Tigers' coach said. ``We'll score some points.''
It hasn't happened lately. In its past three games, Clemson has hit only 31 percent of its shots (57 of 182).
``It's our best win,'' said UNC guard Shammond Williams. ``It was one of those games where you had to do whatever you could to get your hands on the ball. Their guards are a big part of what they do, and we didn't want to let them do what they wanted to do.''
Clemson's loss was the first on the road for any of the top three teams in the ACC standings. The Tigers may have been ranked No. 2, but were underdogs at home to Wake and here against the Heels.
``There are no easy games in the ACC,'' Barnes said. ``We're one game from being halfway through the [league] schedule, and we're still in good shape. We've just got to get better.
``We didn't do it this week. If there was a week when we've got to do it, I'd hope it would be in March.''
The UNC victory capped a week in which four ACC teams were ranked among the top 10 in the writers' poll for only the fifth time in history.
``We can't get too excited,'' said Dean Smith, Carolina's coach. ``There's no letup in sight. Next, we have Duke in Durham [on Wednesday]. I hope we improve, or it's lights out over there.
``Our goal is to make the NCAA Tournament. Anything can happen then. People used to laugh at me when I said we wanted to make the tournament. They aren't laughing anymore.''
Eleven Clemson coaches have lost at UNC, through a streak that has played through the Indoor Athletic Center - UNC's original ``Tin Can'' - followed by Woollen Gym, then Carmichael Auditorium and now the Smith Center.
Despite past fireworks between the teams and despite two intentional fouls by the Tigers, Smith and Barnes shook hands even while the final seconds were winding down before both left the floor.
``Their fans are great,'' Barnes said. ``It makes it tough.''
LENGTH: Medium: 75 linesby CNB