North Carolina Nearly Staggers

Fairfield Coach Paul Cormier needed 715 victories to tie Adolph Rupp’s record entering Thursday night’s game.

He was not supposed to be the story.

Yet, at halftime, with his Stags leading North Carolina by seven points, he looked his players in the eye and tried to summon from the greatness in the building. “I told them we’re 20 minutes from one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history.”

Gulp.

“That shook me up a little bit,” Stag guard Greg Francis said.

Good thing for North Carolina that Cormier needs a little more seasoning on his halftime talks. And that the college game is 40 minutes long.

The Tar Heels needed every last tick to swat away a basketball pest known as Fairfield, 82-74, in an NCAA first-round East Regional game before a crowd of 14,368 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“They were like mosquitoes out there,” Tar Heel forward Antawn Jamison said of the Stags.

With the win, North Carolina Dean Smith tied Rupp on the victory list with No. 876.

Afterward, as usual, Smith did not want to discuss the milestone.

He only made joking reference to it when asked what he told his team at the half.

“You mean after my “Win one for the Gipper speech?’ ” Smith said.

It was a night when North Carolina fans were more worried about Smith recording his 254th loss. You wondered if a shocking defeat to an 11-18 team in the opening round might have sent Smith reeling into retirement, forever one victory short of Rupp.

It took everything the Tar Heels (25-6) had to avoid this cataclysm. It took 16 second-half points from the 7-foot-2 Serge Zwikker, who finally found his way inside a defense where the tallest man guarding him was 6-6. It took full-court pressure and man-to-man defense on Francis, who scored 26 points, making eight of his 12 three-point attempts.

It took a steal and basket by guard Shammond Williams with 3:46 to put the Tar Heels up, 72-66. And still it almost wasn’t enough. The Stags cut the lead to three with 3:33 remaining before a Zwikker basket and six Tar Heel free throws in the final minute finally closed the screen door on Fairfield.

What more could the Tar Heels do?

They committed a school-record low two turnovers and still almost lost.

“Thank heavens we played the best we can in the second half or else we would not have won,” Smith said.

It was the crux of Smith’s postgame exchange with Cormier.

“I want you to know we played very well, you just brought us right to the brink,” Cormier said Smith told him.

Cormier wondered if Smith really meant it.

“I’ll look at the film to see if he was just being nice,” Cormier said.

After he greeted Cormier, Smith sought out another Stag.

“I had to find Francis,” Smith said. “His hand, I probably could not have held on to it, it was so hot.”

Francis made four of six three point shots in the first half, helping the Stags to their improbable 35-28 halftime lead.

If the Tar Heels’ were nervous--they said they were--Smith was not.

“We said ‘seven’s nothing,’ we just have to tighten up our defense,” Smith said later.

Fairfield quickly extended its lead to nine before the Tar Heels went on a 9-0 run to tie the score at 37 on Zwikker’s follow shot with 17:05.

North Carolina took the lead for good, 61-59, when guard Ed Cota bounced a perfect pass to Jamison inside for an easy score.

Zwikker then used his size advantage to score four baskets down the stretch.

Win No. 876 was a pretty interesting one for Smith. It may also be the greatest loss Cormier will ever know.

“If you have to go out, this is the way to do it,” he said.

Villanova 101, Long Island 91--The Blackbirds attempted a tournament-record 42 three-point shots, but made only 14, as Villanova used its massive height advantage inside to score a fairly comfortable victory.

After trailing, 43-40, with 2:15 left in the first half, Villanova (24-9) went on a 30-2 run to build a 25-point second-half lead, then withstood a 16-3 run by Long Island. The Blackbirds (21-9) got as close as eight, 99-91, on Charles Jones’ three-pointer with 30 seconds left.

California 55, Princeton 52--After his turnover allowed the Tigers (24-4) to tie the score, 50-50, with 1:30 left, forward Tony Gonzalez scored his team’s last five points to help the Bears (22-8) avoid the Pac-10’s second first-round loss to Princeton in two years.

Senior Alfred Grigsby clinched the victory when he blocked Gabe Lewullis’ possible game-tying three point shot with two seconds remaining.

Colorado 80, Indiana 62--Guard Chauncey Billups scored a game-high 24 points as the Buffaloes (22-9) handed the Hoosiers (22-11) a stunning 18-point defeat. It was the third straight first-round NCAA loss for Indiana. Freshman A.J. Guyton led the Hoosiers with 17 points.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

The Dean’s List

Dean Smith tied Adolph Rupp on Thursday for the most victories by a college basketball coach. The all-time leaders: *--*

Wins Coach Teams Years 876 Adolph Rupp Kentucky 1931-52, 1954-72 876 Dean Smith North Carolina 1962-present 767 Henry Iba NW Missouri State 1930-33 Colorado 1934 Oklahoma State 1935-70 759 Ed Diddle Western Kentucky 1923-64 746 Phog Allen Baker 1906-08 Kansas 1908-09 Haskell 1909 Central Missouri St. 1913-19 Kansas 1920-56

*--*