ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 24, 1997 TAG: 9703250029
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y.
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK THE ROANOKE TIMES
North Carolina heads for its 13th Final Four, and fourth in seven years, after battling past stubborn Louisville.
Louisville took North Carolina's best shot Sunday at the Carrier Dome - then took it again.
The Tar Heels watched the Cardinals bomb their way back into the NCAA East Regional final, then repeated an earlier explosion for a ticket to the 13th Final Four in UNC history.
Carolina's 97-74 triumph was a Dow-Joneser of a game between two of college basketball's storied programs and Hall of Fame coaches with a combined 1,491 victories.
The top-seeded Heels led by 21 at the half, but 12 minutes later only led by three. Then they outscored the sixth-seeded Cardinals 28-6 to make the clincher of coach Dean Smith's 11th Final Four a rout.
It ended up the most lopsided game of the tournament since the first round.
``It's been like that all year,'' Smith said. ``We've been a team that has come from behind to win, or when we've had to hang on, we've responded.''
The win moved UNC into Saturday's Final Four opener (5:42 p.m.) in Indianapolis against Arizona (25-9), which beat the Heels 83-72 in the season-opening Hall of Fame Tipoff Game in Springfield, Mass.
It is the Tar Heels' fourth trip to the NCAA semifinals in seven seasons, in each odd-numbered year of the '90s.
Louisville's team slogan for the NCAA Tournament was ``Racing to Indy,'' a reference to next weekend at the RCA Dome. The Cards had one problem.
``We just ran out of gas,'' said coach Denny Crum.
The Tar Heels (28-6) also exploited Louisville's obvious weaknesses at both ends of the floor.
The poor-shooting Cardinals (26-9) had no inside game against UNC's zone. At the other end of the hardwood, the Heels were too big - a 14-inch advantage on the starting front line - and too quick on the perimeter.
``I really don't think we played bad,'' Crum said. ``They just played well. They're awfully good.''
Louisville had been 7-0 in regional finals in NCAA history, but even with hobbled star guard DeJuan Wheat gamely starting despite a sprained left ankle, the Cardinals were overwhelmed - twice.
Wheat started his 136th consecutive - and last - collegiate game, but was 2-for-11 on the leg he injured in Friday's regional semifinal victory over Texas. Every shot came from outside the arc.
While Wheat was no factor, UNC's backcourt trio of Shammond Williams, Vince Carter and Ed Cota combined for 53 points.
``It was obvious [Wheat] wasn't 100 percent,'' said Williams, the game's leading scorer with 22 points. ``He tried, but didn't move around a whole lot.''
Crum agreed.
``DeJuan had a hard defending the penetrators, and he didn't have much lateral movement,'' the coach said. ``But he's our second all-time scorer [behind Darrell Griffith], and he wanted to play. I left it up to him.''
Almost half (34) of the Cards' 69 shots were 3-point tries. They made only 11 from behind the arc. Meanwhile, North Carolina had a .559 percentage, its sixth-best marksmanship of the season.
``We were getting the shots we wanted,'' said Williams, whose 15 first-half points started him toward the honor as Most Outstanding Player of the regional. ``When Louisville came at us, we just had to stay focused. We didn't come this far to let it slide.''
The Tar Heels' 16th consecutive victory was achieved in the last seven minutes of the first half, when UNC shredded a Louisville defense that had been challenging the half-court game inside.
From a five-point lead, Carolina scored on 12 of its final 14 possessions in the half and left the floor with a 54-33 bulge. UNC scored on 10 consecutive trips down the floor and in a stretch of 4:35 outscored the Cards 20-5.
The Heels needed that huge advantage, because when B.J. Flynn hit Louisville's fifth 3-pointer in the first 12 minutes of the second half, the UNC lead was down to three, at 69-66.
``We got it to three and I told the guys, `You've done an amazing job, don't quit now,' and they didn't,'' Crum said. NOTE: please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ASSOCIATED PRESS. UNC players Antawn Jamison (left),by CNBSerge Zwikker and Makhtar Ndiaye (right) celebrate the Tar Heels'
victory over Louisville in the East Regional final. color.