
DATE: Monday, March 24, 1997                TAG: 9703240151

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y.                    LENGTH:   89 lines

UNC, ARIZONA JOIN PARTY 16TH STRAIGHT WIN SENDS THE TAR HEELS TO THEIR 13TH FINAL FOUR

North Carolina's 21-point halftime lead had melted to six Sunday afternoon when Dean Smith gathered his team in a timeout and began what sounded like a ``concluding'' speech, at least to forward Ademola Okulaja.

``He said, `It was a nice season, and maybe it's supposed to end here,' something like that,'' Okulaja said.

Halfway through the talk, Okulaja did the unthinkable in a Dean Smith huddle.

He screamed.

``I screamed a loud scream - aaah! - just to interrupt that thought from settling in anybody's mind,'' Okulaja said.

The scream therapy worked, as did Smith's bit of pop psychology. The Tar Heels finished the game with a 25-8 run to scream past Louisville 97-74 in the East Region final at The Carrier Dome and advanced to their 13th Final Four, their fourth in the 1990s. The Tar Heels will face Arizona in a national semifinal Saturday in Indianapolis.

Okulaja, one of six Tar Heels to score in double figures, said he didn't realize what he had done until after he'd done it. Smith's talk sounded like heresy to him, and he just reacted.

``I didn't want to hear that,'' Okulaja said. ``I just screamed, not to interrupt him: The scream just came out.

``Coach looked at me and just kept on. I was really quiet because nobody interrupts him.''

Louisville (25-9) was threatening to interrupt UNC's run to the Final Four. The Cardinals, playing with star point guard DeJuan Wheat at half speed, trimmed the Tar Heels' halftime bulge to three, at 69-66, on a 3-pointer by guard B.J. Flynn with 8:20 left.

North Carolina (27-6) pushed the lead back to six after Okulaja reacted during a TV timeout.

The Tar Heels embarked on a 19-3 run, with most of the points coming on layups. A short jumper by Antawn Jamison made the score 76-66. A 3-pointer by Shammond Williams pushed the lead to 13, then a Jamison layup made it 15. Louisville answered with a 3-pointer by Alex Sanders, but then North Carolina ripped off 10 unanswered points.

``It's a game of spurts and we had the last one,'' point guard Ed Cota said.

Louisville had the most dramatic one. After shooting 31 percent in the first half, the Cardinals owned the first 12 minutes of the second half. But with Wheat, who wasn't expected to play, hobbled by a sprained left ankle, Louisville didn't have enough firepower to finish the job. Wheat was just 2 of 11 on 3-point attempts and finished with six points. Sanders led the Cardinals with 20.

``We ran out of gas,'' coach Denny Crum said. ``We made a great run at them, and we did it all with DeJuan at half mast.''

Louisville couldn't handle a North Carolina team that was both too big and too quick for the under-sized Cardinals. The Tar Heels shot 56 percent and did what they wanted both inside and out. The 6-foot-9 Jamison and 7-3 Serge Zwikker combined for 28 points and 14 rebounds. Williams, named the region MVP, pumped in 22, while Vince Carter added 18. Cota came off the bench to score 13 points and hand out nine assists.

North Carolina showed the composure it lacked when it blew a 22-point second-half lead to Maryland in January. Smith said he usually reminds his team of that game, but didn't mention it Sunday.

``We don't want the players to look at the score at any time,'' he said. ``They should be concerned that they get a good shot.''

North Carolina got plenty of them down the stretch. Jamison scored nine of his 15 in the final 10 minutes when the Tar Heels began pushing the ball inside and turning Louisville turnovers into layups.

``We knew we weren't going to win by 20 points, but we stuck in there,'' Cota said. ``They cut it to three points and that's when we got back into our game.''

North Carolina has won 16 in a row. Once 0-3 in the ACC, the Tar Heels are back in the Final Four for the second time in three years.

``It's a special feeling, the way we started off this season,'' Jamison said. ``Through tough times, this team has held together.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by ASSOCIATED PRESS

North Carolina guard Ed Cota, left, fights for a loose ball against

Louisville's Alex Sanders, center, and B.J. Flynn.

Bennett Davison celebrates Arizona's OT victory...

Antawn Jamison, left, Serge Zwikker and Makhtar Ndiaye celebrate

North Carolina's victory over Louisville for the East Regional

title, giving the Tar Heels their 16th straight victory and 13th

Final Four berth. UNC will play Arizona next Saturday in

Indianapolis.

Shammond Williams fires up two of his 22 points. The UNC guard was

named the East Region MVP.