COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S FINAL FOUR : Michigan, Carolina Aren’t Blue : Williams Finally Shoots Down Kansas

In 1982, an outside shot by a young man from Wilmington, N.C., named Michael Jordan helped Dean Smith win his only national championship at North Carolina.

Eleven years later, outside shooting by Donald Williams of Garner, N.C., has given Smith and the Tar Heels a chance to win it again.

Williams scored 25 points Saturday as North Carolina defeated Kansas, 78-68, in an NCAA tournament semifinal before 64,151 at the Louisiana Superdome.

Williams made seven of 11 shots, including five of seven three-pointers, to spoil Kansas’ bid to reach the championship game for the second time in three years.

His outside flurry was bolstered by a dominating inside game, led by 7-foot Eric Montross, who scored 23 points.

But the 6-foot-2 guard, whose confidence has increased with each tournament game, was the focal point, even if he skipped an optional shootaround Saturday morning.

“My breakfast came late,” Williams said.

Replied Montross: “Poor excuse, Donald.”

North Carolina had no excuses Saturday. The Tar Heels played stifling defense to keep Kansas from capitalizing on its three-point shooting, and that, in essence, helped the Tar Heels (33-4) reverse the result of 1991, when the Jayhawks defeated them in the national semifinals at Indianapolis.

This game was supposed to feature North Carolina’s aggressive front line against the swift-moving Kansas guards, and that is exactly how it started.

Although the Tar Heels used superior height to hold the lead after the first three minutes, Kansas’ outside shooters--Rex Walters and Adonis Jordan--kept the Jayhawks in contention until the end.

But Williams proved too much. After Darrin Hancock made two free throws to close the margin to 68-65, Williams made his fifth three-pointer with 2:43 to play for a 71-65 lead.

“They tried to trap Derrick (Phelps) and backed off of me,” Williams said. “I was open. When I’m open like that, I’m supposed to shoot it.”

He then forced two Kansas turnovers and drew a foul with 1:23 left. Williams made both free throws for 73-65 lead, and North Carolina was on its way to Monday night’s finale against Michigan.

“Donald has matured real rapidly,” Montross said.

He had little choice Saturday. The oft-injured Phelps suffered a tailbone injury when he slipped while dribbling in the second half. Williams, who was Phelps’ backup at point guard last season, had to take some of the responsibility on defense as well as offense.

With Phelps injured, North Carolina has struggled at times. He runs Smith’s disciplined offense like a computer.

“He was hurting real bad,” Kansas’ Jordan said. “I even asked him, ‘You all right?’ ”

But the Kansas guards, who each had 19 points and were a combined 10 of 16 on three-pointers, tried to take advantage of Phelps’ plight. Phelps and Williams switched defensive assignments.

Phelps had to guard Walters, who kept Kansas close in the first half. “I told Rex, “We’ve got an opportunity here. Take him to the basket,’ ” Jordan said.

But as other opponents have discovered, that is not always easy when North Carolina’s bruisers are waiting underneath.

Montross, Lynch and 7-0 backup center Kevin Salvadori overmatched Kansas’ 6-10 Eric Pauley, 6-7 Richard Scott and 7-2 backup Greg Ostertag.

“They were a lot stronger than I anticipated,” Walters said. “That is the most physical team we have played since Michigan (in a Christmas holiday tournament in Hawaii). Physically, they wore us down underneath.”

Walters made three of five three-pointers and scored 13 points in the first half as North Carolina took a 40-36 lead at the break.

Smith said he kept the same defensive alignment in the second half, with one exception.

“We had to stop Rex from getting a good look at the basket,” he said.

Said Phelps: “We had to try to keep Kansas from shooting the threes. I don’t think they were prepared for that type of defense.”

Kansas (29-7) still shot well from three-point range but launched only half as many threes in the second half as the first half. Yet every time North Carolina looked as if it would finally pull away, the Jayhawks hung tough.

With 9:35 left, Williams made a 21-footer for a 63-55 North Carolina lead. However, Jordan got hot from the perimeter. His two three-pointers within 1:43 to play made it 65-61 with 6:32 left. But Kansas could not overcome Williams’ clutch performance.

“They keyed on our inside game,” Phelps said, “and that opened up our outside shooting game.”

That meant Williams could shoot with confidence. Playing in the team-oriented North Carolina system has kept Williams from being the scoring star he was at Garner High two years ago. And when Williams was made a backup point guard as a freshman, some said his career was headed in the wrong direction.

Williams said he knew what to expect when he came to Chapel Hill and never wavered. He says the experience has helped him.

“Everyone on the team knew Donald was a tremendous shooter,” Montross said. “During the off-season he just astonished us with his three-point shooting.”

No one should be astonished anymore.