ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 10, 1997 TAG: 9703120021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C.
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES
UNC completes its comeback from an 0-3 start in the ACC by beating underdog State in the tournament final.
There were two underdogs Sunday at the Greensboro Coliseum: the one that was seeded eighth in the ACC tournament and the other that opened the conference schedule 0-3.
While there has been no more successful ACC men's basketball program than North Carolina, it has been less than six weeks since people were burying the Tar Heels.
``Expectations are always unrealistic at North Carolina,'' UNC coach Dean Smith said Sunday. ``Usually, I say I hope we make the NCAA Tournament and people laugh. This year, they didn't laugh.''
They weren't crying, either, not after the Tar Heels won their 12th consecutive game by defeating North Carolina State 64-54 on Sunday in the ACC championship game.
It was the 13th ACC title and the 875th victory for Smith, who is one victory from the NCAA record held by longtime Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp. It could come Thursday, when the Tar Heels meet Fairfield in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Winston-Salem.
That hardly seemed possible Jan.29, when the Tar Heels were 12-6 overall and 3-5 in the ACC. Moreover, nobody would have predicted Carolina would have received the No.1 seed in the East Regional.
``We started out 3-5 and I asked myself, `Why is this guy [Smith] smiling? Why isn't he mad?''' said UNC forward Antawn Jamison. ``He wasn't frustrated. He never lost confidence in us.''
The magnitude of Carolina's metamorphosis was surpassed only by the turnaround of its opponent Sunday. The Wolfpack (16-14) was the first No.8 seed to reach the ACC final, and the first team to win three tournament games and not capture the championship.
``Our focus, since the very first day, has been unconditionally on the process and not on the outcome,'' said State coach Herb Sendek. ``We decided a long time ago that we wouldn't predicate our self worth on whether we scored more points than the other team.''
The Wolfpack never folded Sunday, getting as close as 58-54 with 57 seconds left. State, with freshman point guard Justin Gainey directing the offense, had three turnovers compared with UNC's 18.
``The time was not passing by fast enough, man,'' said Jamison, who had 17 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. ``It was scary. In our two regular-season games, they gave us more trouble than any other team.''
The Wolfpack was forced to play catch-up after Carolina junior Shammond Williams hit three 3-pointers in a span of 1:54 early in the first half. A two-point Tar Heels lead grew to 45-34.
``I don't want anybody to think I took control of the game,'' said Williams, who scored 23 points and was named most valuable player for the tournament. ``I don't want any headlines to say, `Shammond Williams did this.'''
Indeed, Williams came out of the game after his third 3-pointer, not to return for more than two minutes. It was reminiscent of the Tar Heels' game with Virginia on Friday night, when the Cavaliers' Courtney Alexander was pulled after hitting a tying 3-pointer.
``He said he was tired,'' Smith said of Williams. ``He gave me the tired signal. I'm not that dumb, [but] we'll discuss that later.''
Carolina was able to exploit a tremendous height advantage over N.C. State, whose starting center, Danny Strong, is the same height (6 feet 6) as the Tar Heels' shooting guard, Vince Carter.
UNC outrebounded the Wolfpack 41-21 and shot 59 percent from the field, including 66.7 in the second half. State, trailing at the half for the fourth game in a row, shot 32.8 percent.
``My manager told me we had 39 percent loss of ball in the second half - that's without taking a shot or getting fouled,'' Smith said. ``You'd better be making all your shots if you're throwing the ball around so much.''
N.C. State used six players, four of them for the full 40 minutes. North Carolina played seven people, but the sixth man, freshman point guard Ed Cota, played 30 minutes.
``I thought we were in good condition,'' said State senior Jeremy Hyatt. ``I don't think fatigue was a factor at all. It was just a matter of us knocking down some open shots.''
The Tar Heels staged late rallies in winning both of their regular-season meetings with State by one point. At least one Carolina player said UNC was rooting for No.22 Maryland to beat the Wolfpack in their semifinal Saturday.
``I kept telling the team, `This is like Princeton with better athletes,''' Smith said. ``I shouldn't have said anything because we might have to play [the Tigers] again.''
As he was speaking, Smith couldn't have known UNC would be in the same bracket with the Tigers, a 69-60 December victim. It was one of several victories that impressed Smith early.
``The 0-3 [conference] record definitely woke us up,'' said fifth-year senior Serge Zwikker. ``That's what makes this so special. We learned what it was like to lose and we didn't like it.
``Losing is not an option anymore.'' NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. Tournament MVP Shammond Williams hadby CNB23 points for UNC. 2. North Carolina coach Dean Smith cuts down one
of the nets after the Tar Heels won their 14th ACC tournament
championship. color. 3. North Carolina's Antawn Jamison, Ademola
Okulaja and Serge Zwikker (left to right) celebrate their 64-54
victory over North Carolina State.