THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 8, 1995 TAG: 9502080535
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD. LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
Maryland turned what had been described as its biggest home game in a decade into a victory of equal importance Tuesday night.
The Terps (18-4, 8-2) raced back into a tie for first place in the ACC by defeating North Carolina (18-2, 8-2), 86-73, in Cole Field House.
The Tar Heels, who had jumped back on top of the polls Monday, could have taken a two-game in the ACC regular-season race with a victory.
But the Terrapins, who lost to the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill last month, regained their composure in the first half and played with nerves of steel down the stretch to prevent that from happening.
Carolina led, 30-16, at 8:30 in the first half before the Terrapins roared back with sizzling outside shooting.
They hit four straight 3-pointers to cut Carolina's advantage to 32-36 and went on to lead at intermission, 39-38, on back-to-back goals by Johnny Rhodes and Mario Lucas.
Rhodes scored eight of Maryland's last 10 points in the first half.
``We had a hand in his face, but he was hitting his shots anyway,'' UNC's Jerry Stackhouse said.
``When that happens, you just have to congratulate them and go on.''
North Carolina never led in the second half.
``We can't get down because of this (loss),'' Stackhouse said.
``We are still in good shape as far as the league race is concerned. Everything is going to be fine, and this will make us hungry when we play Georgia Tech (Sunday).''
Rhodes and his backcourt-mate Duane Simpkins each had 21 points to give the Terrapins a decisive edge on the perimeter.
The Tar Heels got only 22 points combined from their starting guards, Donald Williams and Jeff McInnis.
Williams, who was 3 for 11 from the field, fouled out in the final minutes.
Rhodes hit four of his five 3-point attempts while Simpkins got half of his points on transition layups.
Maryland also had a big rebounding advantage, 40-27. Sophomore Joe Smith grabbed 16 of them, along with contributing 14 points.
The Terrapins, who dropped three spots in the polls after losing to Georgia Tech last Saturday, entered the game with a 13-game home-court winning streak.
Maryland coach Gary Williams had set the stage for the game by calling it ``the biggest in Cole Field House since 1984.''
``This victory was very important for our program, but we still have some improving to do,'' Williams said.
Cole Field House had a ``big-game'' atmosphere, too, with live reports being televised by all major Washington stations and a record number of media in attendance.
Maryland had not beaten a No. 1-ranked since February 20. 1986, when they beat North Carolina, 77-72, in Chapel Hill.
That also was the first loss for the Tar Heels in the Dean Dome.
Williams praised Smith, a sophmore from Norfolk, for his rebounding.
``He showed that he means so much to this team even when he is not scoring a lot of points,'' Williams said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maryland's Joe Smith goes up against North Carolina's Rasheed
Wallace in the first half of Tuesday night's game. Smith scored 14
points and grabbed 16 rebounds.
by CNB