THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9504020160
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BOB MOLINARO
DATELINE: SEATTLE LENGTH: Medium: 75 lines
If Nolan Richardson wants to believe that his Arkansas escape artists wore down North Carolina in Saturday's NCAA basketball semifinals, that is the way this game will be remembered.
History, after all, is written by the victors.
``No way they could stay with us with the wear and tear our defense put on them,'' said Richardson.
``I'd never say that,'' replied Dean Smith.
But what could Smith say on an evening when his Tar Heels went 12:47 of the second half without a field goal?
``They give you open shots,'' he said, ``but you have to make them.''
Memories are not to be trusted, but nobody on the premises of this North Carolina dismantling could remember the Tar Heels missing so often, and so badly, on their jump shots.
Dante Calabria, the No. 2-ranked 3-point shooter in college, was 0 for 7 from behind the arc, 1 for 10 overall. Calabria couldn't have thrown the ball in the ocean if he was standing on the Outer Banks.
Donald Williams, who had 13 first-half points, added only six after intermission, and finished his stellar college career with two shots that clanged less artfully than the ceiling tiles that once fell to the Kingdome floor.
Nobody was immune. Even point-guard Jeff McInnis contributed to Carolina's problems, going 0 for 4 in the second half.
If Richardson's analysis of the Tar Heels' problems isn't right, it will have to do until a better one comes along.
There may be no way, though, to explain the listless performance of Rasheed Wallace, who played the second half as if one of those tiles had landed on his head. The 6-foot-11 sophomore should have been the Mt. Ranier of this game, towering over his opposition.
Instead, he was badly outplayed by Corliss Williamson, a tougher player, but one who gives up four or five inches to Wallace.
Williamson scored 19 second-half points. And Wallace? He attempted one second-half shot. He missed, of course. The Tar Heels as a team missed three of every four shots after intermission.
Arkansas would go on to win, 75-68, a score that was surprising by its closeness. Because the Razorbacks can't seem to win comfortably, they made a game of what could have been a runaway.
But, in the end, Richardson's team held on. It always finds a way, after all.
The buzzer-beating half-court heave by Dwight Stewart to draw Arkansas within four at the half was just one more example of fate shining on the Hogs.
Whatever it takes. Whatever they need. The Razorbacks must be living right.
``We have what we call the `Cardiac Kids,' '' Richardson said.
Arkansas went up by 11 with 3:35 to play, only to turn an easy victory into another cardiac clinic.
The Hogs senselessly sent the Tar Heels to the foul line with stupid fouls. And when Carolina put Stewart on the line, the half-court hero couldn't make a free throw.
Arkansas had been over this territory before, though. And when the Tar Heels' Jerry Stackhouse missed one of two free throws with 47 seconds to play, it was the kind of break the Hogs have come to expect in this tournament.
``We got just a little unlucky in the end,'' said Stackhouse.
So it seemed. It should be obvious, though, that nobody, not even UCLA, is going to beat Arkansas with breaks.
UCLA reached the title game by shutting down Oklahoma center Bryant ``Big Country'' Reeves in the second half.
Down the stretch, coach Eddie Sutton had nowhere to turn. As UCLA bottled up Reeves, Sutton became a man without a Country.
Oklahoma State, the first team eliminated from this Final Four, was soon followed by a team without a jump shot. by CNB