Tar Heels Move On Without the Dean

Bill Guthridge and No. 4 North Carolina got an easy victory Friday night at Chapel Hill, N.C., in the program’s first game in 36 years without coach Dean Smith.

The Tar Heels, 28-7 and a Final Four team a season ago, beat Middle Tennessee State, 84-56, in the program’s first game since Feb. 25, 1961, without Smith as head coach.

“When I didn’t see Coach Smith walk out before the game I thought maybe he just went to get some water at the water cooler, so it was different,” said Middle Tennessee State Coach Randy Wiel, a former assistant under Smith.

The Tar Heels, playing the earliest opener in school history, recorded the victory without preseason All-American and last year’s leading scorer Antawn Jamison. He is sidelined because of an elbow injury.

Shammond Williams led the Tar Heels with 17 points.

Apparently, some fans stayed away because of Smith’s Oct. 9 retirement as the Smith Center was dotted with some empty seats for Guthridge’s opening game. Smith, college basketball’s winningest coach, sat in a box seat watching the North Carolina coaching transition.

The Tar Heels won their 69th consecutive home opener and 44th consecutive nonconference game at the Smith Center, but many eyes were on Guthridge.

The 60-year-old rookie head coach, whose five-year contract was announced earlier in the day, appeared relaxed and chatted with Wiel, a former coaching colleague with the Tar Heels, during warmups. Once the game started, Guthridge sat on the edge of his seat as he had done for three decades under Smith.

“The hardest part of the day was it seemed like it kind of dragged on; 7 o’clock didn’t get here as fast as I had hoped it would,” Guthridge said.

Ed Cota made the first basket of the Guthridge era, a driving layup 17 seconds into the game, and in typical Smith fashion, Guthridge made his first substitution 1:01 into the contest. Makhtar Ndiaye entered after not starting because of a tardy appearance at the pregame meal.

“Same rules we’ve had for 37 years,” Guthridge said. “Sometimes it can’t be helped, but I’m a bottom line man.”

No. 2 Kansas 99, Santa Clara 73--Preseason All-American Raef LaFrentz dominated the inside to score 22 points and grab a career-high 19 rebounds to lead the Jayhawks at Lawrence, Kan.

Paul Pierce, also a preseason All-American, scored 18 points to go over 1,000 in his career as Kansas started its 100th season with a rout of the undersized and inexperienced Broncos.

No. 5 Clemson 67, North Carolina Wilmington 50--Terrell McIntyre led Clemson with six second-half three-point baskets on his way to 26 points as the Tigers pulled away in their opener at Clemson, S.C.

No. 7 South Carolina 76, Maryland 72--Melvin Watson’s three-point basket with 10 seconds left in overtime gave the Gamecocks the victory in the first game of the Black Coaches Assn. Classic at Minneapolis.

Watson, who forced overtime with a three-pointer in the final minute of regulation, made the winning shot 20 seconds after Laron Profit had given the Terrapins a 72-71 lead with a three-pointer of his own.

No. 9 Purdue 119, Long Island 95--Chad Austin scored 22 points as the Boilermakers shot a school-record 77% at West Lafayette, Ind.

Richie Parker led Long Island with 34 points. Charles Jones, the leading scorer in the nation last season for the Blackbirds, did not play because of a two-game suspension for participating in two summer leagues.

No. 15 Iowa 105, Chicago State 60--Ryan Bowen had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman Dean Oliver made a successful debut at point guard as the Hawkeyes breezed at Iowa City, Iowa.

No. 24 Temple 59, No. 17 Indiana 53--Julian Dunkley scored 12 points on four three-pointers and the Owls’ determined defense forced 23 turnovers at Philadelphia.

A.J. Guyton had 15 points for the Hoosiers, who were playing the earliest season opener in school history. Temple (2-0) had 19 steals to tie a school record.

OTHER GAMES

Sam Jacobson scored 13 points to lead four players in double figures as defending Big Ten champion Minnesota opened the season with a 68-55 victory over Villanova in the second game of the Black Coaches Assn. Classic. . . . Aaron Hutchins scored 25 points including the game’s final nine in leading Marquette past Wisconsin, 65-60, at Madison, Wis. . . . Terrell Baker scored 12 points, leading Florida State to a 65-53 victory over Rice at Houston.