WEST REGIONAL AT SALT LAKE CITY : Loyola Is Brought Under Heel in Loss to North Carolina

The longest season in Loyola Marymount history ended with its longest game Saturday, a 123-97 stomping by North Carolina in the second round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. West Regional.

Some of the numbers were in Loyola’s favor. The Lions took 51 shots by halftime and 103 in the game. They got 28 offensive rebounds and forced 26 North Carolina turnovers. They made 13 three-pointers. Loyola pushed the pace enough to produce a scoring record.

But the numbers that hurt the Lions most were the shooting percentages.

The Lions, who finished 28-4, hit only 13 of 51 shots (25.5%) in the first half and shot only 32% in the game. The Tar Heels shot 78% in the first half and 80% in the second on the way to making 49 of 62 attempts. Many came on perfectly executed back-door layups.

North Carolina’s 123 points set an NCAA tournament record, breaking the mark of 121 by Iowa in 1970 and Nevada Las Vegas in 1977. North Carolina’s 79% shooting broke the mark of 78.6% by Villanova in the 1985 title game against Georgetown.

The Lions finally found someone both happy to run and able to get back and defend. Loyola, which wiped out deficits all season with scoring bursts, never put together a good run Saturday.

“I thought we came out flat. We didn’t have our running legs on,” said Loyola center Hank Gathers, one of the Lions’ few effective players with 17 points and 12 rebounds. “They’re a very well-disciplined team. When they got the big lead on us, we couldn’t come back. North Carolina came ready to play.”

The Tar Heels had doubled the score at 42-21 only 12 minutes into the game, and led at halftime, 65-40. The Lions never got within 20 points again. Many of the 14,062 in Huntsman Center at the University of Utah had left well before North Carolina’s scoring spree was over.

The Lions went down shooting. The starting guards, Corey Gaines and Bo Kimble, were a combined 2 of 20 at halftime. The forwards, Mike Yoest and Mark Armstrong, made 2 of 10 shots. Gaines finished with 16 points and 10 assists but was 5 of 20, and Kimble finished with 8 points on 3 of 21.

The only successful shooter for Loyola was guard Jeff Fryer, the leading scorer with 27 points and 7 three-pointers off the bench. He made 9 of 16 shots.

Much of North Carolina’s lineup reached its averages by halftime. Five players scored in double figures, led by guard Ranzino Smith with a career-high 27 points. Guard Jeff Lebo and forward J.R. Reid had 19 apiece, and guard Kevin Madden added 16. Reid also had 15 rebounds.

“We ran our system and tried our best, but a lot of shots didn’t go down that we normally make,” Loyola Coach Paul Westhead said.

“We weren’t the (Flying) Wallendas today. We didn’t get shot out of a cannon. We couldn’t find the cannon.”

Westhead said the Tar Heels’ ability to set up and work the back-door play was the difference. “Their back-door cuts hurt us deeply,” he said. “North Carolina was excellent at stepping up and cutting back. That’s excellent technique against the overplay.

“We ran into a team that had a lead and knew how to hold it. The key was our inability to hit shots. If the offense isn’t scoring, we’re not going to defend well enough to play with a high-caliber outfit like this.”

The victory was Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith’s 38th in NCAA playoff games. The Tar Heels (26-6) will meet Michigan (26-7) in the regional semifinals Friday at Seattle.

“We maybe played our best game, and they didn’t play very well, but that shouldn’t detract from their season,” Smith said. “That was the best defense we played all year. We got back on defense, ran when it was there and got the back-door picks.”

Loyola was out-rebounded, 56-41, and hit only 13 of 39 three-point shots. Lebo and Ranzino Smith, the only North Carolina players with permission to shoot three-pointers, made 6 of 9. They were also the recipients of numerous back-door passes as the Tar Heels had 36 assists for their 49 field goals.

Lebo said: “It was tough to get the ball across halfcourt. Once we did, we got a lot of easy shots and layups.”

The loss snapped Loyola’s 25-game win streak. “We’ve had a pretty good run,” Westhead said. “Nothing is forever.”