THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, February 23, 1997 TAG: 9702230322
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD. LENGTH: 77 lines
With about 11 minutes left in Saturday's ACC game between Maryland and North Carolina, the Terrapins' Laron Profit caught an alley-oop pass high above the rim and slammed the ball through the net, bringing a Cole Field House crowd of 14,500 to its feet and cutting the Tar Heels' lead to nine.
Just 20 seconds later, while Maryland fans were still celebrating, North Carolina's Vince Carter soared even higher, and scored on an even more spectacular alley-oop play that silenced the crowd and triggered an 8-0 Tar Heels run.
That's pretty much how it went for Maryland in a 93-81 loss to North Carolina. Anything the Terrapins did, the Tar Heels did better.
``We were just a step behind today,'' Maryland coach Gary Williams said. ``We couldn't stop them, and they are on a roll.''
After dropping its first three conference games, North Carolina has won nine of its last 11 in the ACC. Saturday's win pulled the 12th-ranked Tar Heels (19-6, 9-5 ACC) into a third-place tie with No. 14 Maryland (20-7, 9-5).
The Tar Heels also avenged the biggest collapse in school history. On Jan. 8, North Carolina blew a 22-point second-half lead to Maryland, losing 85-75 in Chapel Hill.
Saturday's lead ballooned to 17 points before Maryland rallied. This time, the Terrapins got no closer than seven.
The memory of the Jan. 8 debacle motivated the Tar Heels, forward Antawn Jamison said.
``It really hurt me,'' Jamison said. ``We had the game under control, a 22-point lead. That's just not the team I'm used to being around. I felt embarrassed to just be on the team.''
Saturday, Jamison and center Serge Zwikker embarrassed the Terrapins' inside defenders. Jamison, a 6-foot-9 sophomore, scored 29 points on 11-of-17 shooting. Zwikker, a 7-3 senior, scored a career-high 24 points, on 10-of-14 shooting. They also combined for 17 rebounds.
``Antawn Jamison was so determined,'' North Carolina coach Dean Smith said. ``That's all he could think about, that game back in Chapel Hill.''
Jamison and Zwikker weren't the only Tar Heels with hot hands. Carter made five of seven shots and finished with 15 points. North Carolina shot 57 percent, its best this year in an ACC game.
``We made some extra passes today,'' Smith said. ``More than we usually do. The hardest thing to learn is shot selection, and this team has learned the hard way.''
No pass was prettier than the lob Shammond Williams threw to Carter. The ball seemed headed into the stands when the 6-foot-5 Carter jumped, extended his right arm and slammed the ball home.
``It wasn't planned,'' Carter said. ``They were still celebrating (Profit's dunk) and Shammond found me.
``I was kind of in awe myself over how high it was.''
Williams said he doesn't worry about throwing the ball too high for the high-flying Carter.
``I thought it didn't go high enough,'' he said.
After Carter's dunk, North Carolina pushed its lead to 17. Maryland pulled to within 88-81 with 56 seconds left, but the Tar Heels hit five-of-six free throws to clinch it.
Maryland got 20 points from senior Keith Booth, who had his No. 22 jersey retired to the rafters before the game, next to Joe Smith's No. 32. Booth, the 11th Maryland player to receive the honor, also set a school record for games started (121). ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Maryland's Keith Booth, right, had his No. 20 retired prior to the
game and this shot blocked by North Carolina's Serge Zwikker during
it.