NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT : WEST REGIONAL : Louisville Shows Tar Heels <i> Its</i> Heels, Faces Auburn Next

So much for the No. 1 ranking that North Carolina held for most of the college basketball season. So much for the front line of giants. So much for the big tournament tradition.

So much for a beautifully played game and a five-star comeback.

The North Carolina Tar Heels ran into an even more determined University of Louisville team in the West Regional of the NCAA tournament Thursday night and lost, 94-79, before a crowd of 10,936 in the Houston Summit.

Louisville played big against the bigger North Carolina team when it had to, getting an impressive effort from freshman center Pervis Ellison. It also used its edge in quickness to 8pick off some passes and run some fast breaks while sprinting to a 12-point lead shortly after halftime.

And when North Carolina made its rallying run to take the lead with 4:31 left in the game, Louisville hung right in there.

Louisville made 13 of 14 free throws down the stretch to win by a stunning margin.

Louisville, of the Metro Conference, will play for the West Regional title Saturday against Auburn of the Southeastern Conference. Auburn advanced by beating Nevada Las Vegas, 70-63.

Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith had nothing but praise for Louisville after what he called “a great basketball game.”

Smith said: “Louisville played better than I had seen them play on tape this season. . . . I thought it was pretty intense out there. It’s a tribute that they made all their foul shots down the stretch.”

It was an intense game, for sure, with some pretty dramatic swings. North Carolina had tied it at 43-43 when guard Jeff Lebo scored with three seconds left in the first half.

Louisville started the second half with a wild, up-tempo streak that had the Cardinals up, 59-47, with 15:19 to play. North Carolina went to work on that lead, though, and made it a game again. North Carolina had just gone ahead, 75-73, with a basket by guard Kenny Smith with 4:31 to play when the game took its biggest turn.

In the Smith analysis: “I thought we had them when we came from behind. I thought they were starting to look a little shaky. . . . I thought we were in the driver’s seat until that air ball that they turned into a three-point play and then the terrible call on (Steve) Hale on the drive to the basket right after that.”

Ellison had put up the air ball. But Cardinal forward Billy Thompson saved the moment by grabbing it and taking it back up for the score. He was fouled--but it was not actually a three-point play because that was one of the few free throws that Louisville missed.

At the other end, Hale was driving the lane when he made contact with Ellison. Hale put up a desperation shot, which didn’t drop, and then seemed rather amazed to learn that the foul had been called on him.

The ball went back to Louisville, which took the lead on two free throws by Ellison. Forward Herbert Crook’s rebound led to an inside shot by Thompson, then Crook came up with a steal that led to two free throws by senior guard Milt Wagner.

Louisville was up by six and ready to go to the line with 1:58 left.

Thompson, a player who had struggled through an early season slump and had been on the receiving end of guff from the fans, was at his best against the Tar Heels. He led the team with 24 points and, like Crook, had nine rebounds. He also had five assists, one steal and two blocked shots.

North Carolina finished its season with a record of 28-6, but five of those losses have been in the last few weeks. Louisville now has a record of 29-7, but Louisville’s losses were early in the season. The Cardinals, coached by Denny Crum, who has had Louisville in the Final Four five teams, including a title year in 1980, are on a 14-game winning streak.

Said Crum: “If you want to be the best that you can be at the end of the year, when it counts, you have to play the best and take your ups and downs early. It hurts you in terms of records and rankings, but the most important thing is to be ready for the tournament. . . .

“I can do that since I have a long-term contract.”

Auburn looks ready, too, although it has never before made it this far in the NCAA tournament. The Tigers, now 22-10, were seeded eighth in this regional but advanced with victories over Arizona and St. John’s before ending the season for Las Vegas (33-5) with a comeback win.

Las Vegas, the last truly Western team in the tournament, had led by as many as 14 points in the first half and by as many as 11 early in the second half, but that was when Auburn started coming on.

Auburn forward Chuck Person, who had shot just 4 for 11 in the first half, starting hitting some long shots and continued scoring offsome rebounds as he went 8 for 11 in the second half. He finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

Auburn not only made big gains in its scoring with offensive rebounds in the second half but also beat Las Vegas to the defensive boards to get its running game going. After outrebounding Las Vegas by one in the first half, Auburn had a 41-28 rebounding edge by the end of the game.

Person was key in getting the Tigers a quick lead with less than two minutes to play. Auburn was up by just one point with 1:40 to go when Jeff Moore went to the line to shoot two free throws. He made the first, but the rebound on the second bounced around from one hand to the next until, finally, Person put it in the hoop, was fouled and made the free throw to give Auburn a 62-57 lead with 1:28 to play.

Auburn, which has a reputation as a very physical team, thought that Las Vegas was pretty physical, too. Smith said: “Everybody gives us credit for being mud wrestlers, but they had two guys playing inside that could be playing in the NFL right now.”