COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA TOURNAMENTS : Smith Has Kentucky Fit to Be Fried, 74-61 : Men’s Southeast: North Carolina wins as Wildcats, forced to shoot from outside, hit only 28%.

As Kentuckians counted their chickens and boned up on Seattle grunge, Dean Smith smiled wryly in his solar-eclipse rare role as Coach Underdog.

Smith had led choir in the singing of Kentucky’s praises. Hummed a few bars himself.

Before Saturday’s Southeast Regional final, though, he scribbled two numbers on a chalkboard in the North Carolina dressing room: “9 to 1.”

Those were the odds of his Tar Heels’ advancing past the Wildcats and winning the national championship.

Then, having detected the flaw in “the best Kentucky team he has seen,” Smith handed out the game plan and let his boys loose for a 74-61 victory before a crowd of 17,721 at the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center.

Baiting a Wildcat team that was great because it always left its egos at the door, the Tar Heels spoon-fed Kentucky a diet of all-it-could-shoot, mouth-watering jump shots.

Smith figured no kid on scholarship, no matter how unselfish, could pass up an open 20-footer.

And so it was that the Kentucky Caroms shot themselves out of the tournament, making just 28% from the field as North Carolina watched, waited and ultimately celebrated.

The Tar Heels (28-5) advanced to the Final Four for the 11th time--the third in five years--and will meet the winner of today’s Virgina-Arkansas game next Saturday in Seattle.

Saturday marked the fewest points scored this season by a Kentucky team that had averaged 88 a game. The Wildcats, seeded No. 1 regionally and tournament darlings, made only seven of 36 three-point attempts (19.4%).

Later, Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino admitted that Smith had exposed his team’s Achilles’ heel, but did not recognize the team he sent out on the floor.

“I’m kind of stunned,” Pitino said. “We worked on the characters of being a team all year. But individuals showed up instead of a team. I’m dumbfounded what we did tonight with our own passes. We’ve never been a three-point shooting team this season. I don’t understand it.”

Now that it’s history, allow Smith, who’s been at this 34 years, to explain. Rather than let Kentucky tie his team in knots with its precision motion game, Smith bunched his defense and allowed the Wildcats the chance to be heroes.

“We just gambled,” Smith explained. “I don’t think they’re a bad shooting team (47% for the season), but we were going to make them shoot jump shots and not drive to the basket.”

Kentucky shot 75 times and made 21. The Wildcats flailed away like banjo hitters: Rodrick Rhodes, two for 10; Jeff Sheppard, two for nine; Anthony Epps, zero for five; Jared Prickett, two for six; Antoine Walker, one for five; Chris Harrison, zero for three.

Kentucky’s vaunted bench was deep. Lousy deep.

Its best shooter, guard Tony Delk, finished with 19 points, but he made only seven of 21 shots.

North Carolina took advantage, despite playing the last 10 minutes of the first half without star center Rasheed Wallace, who picked up his third foul early. The Tar Heels also played spells without guard Donald Williams (ankle sprain) and forward Dante Calabria (bruised knee).

So much for North Carolina not having a good bench. The Tar Heels led at halftime, 34-31, and never trailed thereafter.

“The theory that we don’t have a good bench is out the window now,” said forward Jerry Stackhouse, who finished with 18 points.

Before Wallace took to the bench, he set the game’s emotional tone with 16:06 left in the first half when he elbowed Kentucky’s Andre Riddick on a rebound. Riddick lunged for Wallace’s throat in retaliation before the two were separated. Wallace and Kentucky’s Walter McCarty received technical fouls.

Wallace said Kentucky wasn’t used to his physical style.

“I’m allowed that first step,” Wallace said. “That’s my offensive space. It just so happens his face was there.”

No big deal. Smith said Wallace elbows teammates in practice regularly.

The incident seemed to inspire the Tar Heels, who rallied from 8-2 and 13-5 deficits to reclaim the lead at halftime.

“It picked us up emotionally,” Wallace said of the elbow incident. “I don’t know what it did to Kentucky.”

Sure didn’t made the Wildcats shoot straight. They were four of 24 from three-point range when Delk finally connected in the second half to cut the lead to 48-42.

But Kentucky could never draw closer than four.

Delk hit another three-point shot with 5:47 left to make it 58-54, but after the Wildcats blew a big chance when McCarty missed a jumper after a turnover, the Tar Heels closed out with the Rasheed and Jerry Show.

With 5:01 left, Stackhouse drove the lane and dished to Wallace, who scored on a soft, turnaround baseline jumper. With 4:05 left, North Carolina extended the lead to 62-54 when Stackhouse fed Wallace inside for a slam dunk.

Guard Donald Williams’ running jumper in the lane then put the Tar Heels up comfortably by 10 with 2:55 to play.

Williams finished with 18 points, and Wallace, limited to 23 minutes, had 12.

Kentucky, which finished 28-5, loaded up the bandwagon and headed home.