THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, March 16, 1996 TAG: 9603160582
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
North Carolina never had the chance to underestimate New Orleans, its first-round opponent Friday night in the NCAA East Region tournament.
The No. 11-seed Privateers got the attention of the Tar Heels quickly by hitting their first six jump shots - including a trio of 3-pointers, for a 15-5 lead at the Richmond Coliseum.
Momentarily stunned, the sixth-seed Tar Heels soon replied with their own outburst and rolled to a convincing 83-62 victory over the Sun Belt Conference school coached by former Old Dominion assistant Tic Price.
North Carolina (21-10) advances to Sunday's second-round to play No. 3 seed Texas Tech (29-1).
``I didn't think New Orleans could keep shooting like they did in the opening minutes,'' North Carolina coach Dean Smith said, ``but I did begin to wonder about it at one point.''
The Tar Heels, after making only one of their first four shots, took control in the final 11:50 of the first half.
Point guard Jeff McGinnis revved up the offense with 10 points and five assists while the Tar Heels dominated the glass with strong rebounding by freshman Antawn Jamison and 7-foot-2 center Serge Zwikker.
They outscored the Privateers 25-7 in the last 11:50 for a 38-25 lead at intermission.
McGinnis finished the game with 25 points and tied his career high for assists with 11.
The junior guard sliced New Orleans' defense to pieces with his drives into the lane and passing off to open teammates.
``Every time I got past my man, they were bringing a lot of help so I knew someone was going to be open,'' McGinnis said.
``I kicked it out to the open guys and they were making their shots.'' by CNB