North Carolina Gets a Wake-Up Call

Winning on the road in the Atlantic Coast Conference is one of the most difficult tasks in college basketball. For North Carolina, it becomes even tougher when the game is against Wake Forest at Winston-Salem, N.C.

When North Carolina trailed by 17 points in the first half of Saturday’s game at Joel Coliseum, it looked as if the game would turn out like four of the previous five there--with Wake Forest being a blowout winner.

But the second-ranked Tar Heels regained their composure for a 79-73 victory, outscoring the Demon Deacons, 30-6, during an 11-minute stretch of the second half.

“It’s a tough place to shoot . . . I don’t know what it is--maybe it’s the seats or something,” said Shammond Williams, North Carolina’s senior guard. “It doesn’t matter if we come in here No. 1, No. 2, No. 4 they always just smack us. We knew it was going to be a tough game.”

What made this game even more difficult for North Carolina (22-1 overall and 8-1 in the ACC) was that Wake Forest (11-8, 3-5) made a conference-record 18 three-point baskets--12 in the first half in taking 48-36 halftime lead.

“We were conscious of their threes coming in, but probably not conscious enough,” North Carolina Coach Bill Guthridge said. “I don’t think we were ready to play defense the way you have to play defense in this league to win. We were a step slow getting out on those shots.”

When Wake Forest’s shooting cooled off, North Carolina--down 56-40 with 16:05 left--took advantage. Antawn Jamison’s dunk off a fastbreak that followed the Demon Deacons’ 10th missed shot in a row gave the Tar Heels a 64-62 lead with 5:02 left.

North Carolina built the lead to 72-64 with less than two minutes left and sealed the victory by making seven of eight free throws in the final 1:20.

Jamison had 21 points and Williams had 20, and they combined for 21 in that 11-minute stretch of the second half.

Freshman Robert O’Kelley made seven of 15 three-pointers and had 25 points for Wake Forest, which attempted an ACC-record 43 shots from beyond the arc. Steve Goolsby made five of 11 three-pointers in scoring a career high for the Demon Deacons.

“We felt like if we had any edge it might be in our perimeter quickness with the ball,” Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom said. “I don’t know if that was true or not. If they didn’t go out there and guard us we could get shots. Now, the question became: Can you make shots? We did make them early.”

North Carolina will be challenged again on the perimeter when it plays No. 1 Duke on Thursday at Chapel Hill, N.C. The Blue Devils play Georgia Tech today at Durham, N.C.

No. 9 Connecticut 73, Rutgers 56--Richard Hamilton scored 13 of his 17 points in an 18-0 first-half run that put the Huskies (19-3, 9-2) in control of the Big East game at Storrs, Conn.

Rutgers (8-11, 2-9) was outrebounded by Connecticut, 44-25.

No. 10 Purdue 82, Wisconsin 59--The Boilermakers (19-4, 7-2) defeated the Badgers (10-11, 3-6) for the 25th consecutive time at West Lafayette, Ind., in a Big Ten game.

Chad Austin scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half, and Alan Eldridge scored all of his 15 points on a career-high five three-pointers for Purdue, which led by as many as 26 points.

No. 11 Princeton 58, Columbia 45--Brian Earl, scoreless against Cornell on Friday night, came back with 21 points for the Tigers (16-1, 4-0) in the Ivy League game at Princeton, N.J.

Steve Goodrich reached 1,000 points for Princeton, which has won nine in a row.

Columbia (6-12, 1-5) is coached by former Princeton player and assistant coach Armond Hill, who is 0-5 against his alma mater.

Auburn 68, No. 12 Mississippi 67--Doc Robinson made a 15-foot jumper with 10 seconds left to put the Tigers (13-6, 5-3) ahead, then Keith Carter missed a long shot for the Rebels (14-4, 5-3) as time expired in the Southeastern Conference game at Auburn, Ala.

Robinson had missed two throws with Auburn leading, 66-64, with 45 seconds left, allowing Mississippi to take a 67-66 lead on James Flanigan’s three-pointer.

Ansu Sesay had a game-high 26 points for Mississippi, making 16 of 17 free throws. The Rebels shot 33% and had 16 turnovers.

No. 15 Arkansas 76, Mississippi State 73--Pat Bradley scored the last nine points for the Razorbacks (18-3, 7-1) in the SEC game at Starkville, Miss.

Bradley and Kareem Reid both scored 19 points for Arkansas, which had lost its previous five games in Starkville. Since consecutive losses in a Christmas tournament in Puerto Rico, the Razorbacks have won 10 of 11--the only loss coming in overtime at Kentucky two weeks ago.

Mississippi State (13-8, 2-6) has lost six of its last seven games, the last five losses coming by a combined 20 points.

No. 22 Michigan State 72, Northwestern 66--Mateen Cleaves scored 23 of his career-high 34 points in the second half, and had nine more in overtime for the Spartans (15-4, 8-1) in the Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill.

Michigan State won its sixth consecutive game to remain alone atop the Big Ten standings. The Spartans matched their best Big Ten start ever.

Evan Eschmeyer scored 30 points for Northwestern (8-10, 1-7).

Cleaves, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard, lofted a bank shot over the 6-11 Eschmeyer for the final basket of regulation with 9.5 seconds left.

No. 24 Xavier 79, Temple 73--A follow shot by Torraye Braggs with 1:08 left put the Musketeers (14-5, 6-3) ahead for good in the Atlantic 10 game at Philadelphia.

Temple (12-6, 5-3) overcame a 12-point deficit in the second half but didn’t score in the final two minutes after taking a 73-71 lead. The Owls played without injured point guard Pepe Sanchez, but freshman Lynn Greer handled Xavier’s full-court press and had only two turnovers.

No. 25 Indiana 95, Minnesota 82--A.J. Guyton had 23 points and Michael Lewis scored all of his 16 points on free throws for the Hoosiers (15-3, 6-3) in the Big Ten game at Bloomington, Ind.

Minnesota (9-11, 2-7) fell behind, 32-14, as it was called for eight fouls before Indiana had gotten one. Gopher Coach Clem Haskins was ejected after he charged onto the court to protest an out-of-bounds call.

Eric Harris had a career-high 28 points to help Minnesota cut a 27-point Indiana lead to 11. Last season, the Gophers overcame a seven-point deficit at Bloomington in the final minute and went on to win in overtime.

OTHER GAMES

Keith Friel scored nine of his 16 points in a late 11-1 run that enabled Notre Dame (11-7, 5-5) to defeat St. John’s, 73-65, in a Big East game at New York. Pat Garrity had 23 points and eight rebounds for Notre Dame. St. John’s (16-7, 8-4) winning streak ended at seven games. . . . Shawnta Rogers scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to help George Washington (18-3, 7-1) overcome a five-point halftime deficit in a 75-61 Atlantic 10 victory over Virginia Tech (6-12, 1-7) at Washington. George Washington has won five in a row and 13 of its last 14. . . . Charles Jones, the nation’s leading scorer, had 28 points as Long Island (12-9, 7-2) was an 83-81 winner over Central Connecticut (2-17, 1-8) in a Northeast Conference game at New Britain, Conn. Jones, who averages 29.1 points, made only 10 of 28 shots but had eight assists, seven rebounds and seven steals.

C.C. Harrison made a long three-point shot with two-tenths of a second left in overtime to give North Carolina State (12-8, 3-6) an 82-80 victory over Clemson (12-9, 3-6) in the ACC game at Clemson, S.C. Harrison, who scored 19 points, had forced the overtime with a put-back of his own missed free throw with 1.3 seconds left. . . . South Florida (13-9) made 25 of 33 free throws, including two by Brian Lamb that broke a tie in the final seconds of a 70-68 victory over Florida State (15-7) in a nonconference game at Tampa. . . . College of Charleston (16-3, 10-0) increased its Trans-American Athletic Conference win streak to 30 with a 67-47 victory over Mercer (5-14, 2-7) at Charleston, S.C.

Kevin Turner scored 26 points as Illinois (15-7, 7-2) held off Penn State (10-8, 3-5) for a 77-71 Big Ten victory at State College, Pa. It was the first home-court loss this season for Penn State after eight victories. . . . Ball State (16-3, 10-1) lost its leading scorer, Bonzi Wells, to an injury nine minutes into the Mid-American Conference game at Muncie, Ind., but easily increased its home-court winning streak to 26 in 106-57 victory over Ohio (3-16, 1-10). Wells, who averages 23.7 points, suffered a hip pointer after scoring 10 points but is not expected to sit out any games. Lamont Roland had a career-high 28 points to lead six double-figure Ball State scorers. . . . Earl Boykins, a 5-foot-5 senior guard, scored 40 points to lead Eastern Michigan (12-7, 8-3) to a 71-67 Mid-American Conference victory over Miami of Ohio (10-9, 4-7) at Ypsilanti, Mich.

Oklahoma (16-6, 7-2) retired Alvan Adams’ No. 33 jersey at halftime of an 80-71 Big 12 victory over Texas A&M; (6-12, 0-8) at Norman, Okla. Adams played at Oklahoma from 1972-73 and 74-75, and went on to play 13 seasons in the NBA. He the Sooners’ seventh all-time scorer (1,707 points) and third-leading rebounder (928), and still holds four school records. . . . Texas (9-11, 3-5) made 13 of 22 three-point shots in an 87-73 Big 12 victory over Oklahoma State (14-4, 4-4) at Austin, Texas. Oklahoma State, which had been ranked in the Top 25, missed 18 of 21 three-point shots. . . . Saint Louis freshman Larry Hughes, who had averaged 30.5 points in his previous four games, scored only seven points, but the Billikens (15-6, 6-2) were still 64-55 winners over Louisville (8-14, 2-6) in a Conference USA game at St. Louis. . . . Southeast Missouri State (10-10, 6-6) won its 1,000th game by defeating Eastern Kentucky, 97-78, in an Ohio Valley Conference game at Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Winfred Walton scored a career-high 27 points and Chris Herren added 26 to lead short-handed Fresno State (11-4, 4-1) to a 97-94 Western Athletic Conference victory at San Diego State (9-9, 3-4). Before the game, Bulldog starters Avondre Jones and Tremaine Fowlkes were suspended for violating unspecified team rules. Players have been suspended nine times at Fresno State this season. Jones, a senior center averaging 10.8 points and 7.4 rebounds, also was suspended on Jan. 21 for a violating team rule. He is suspended indefinitely this time. Fowlkes, who averages 10.4 points and 10.2 rebounds, will also sit out Monday’s key WAC game against Hawaii. . . . Bakari Hendrix had 27 points for Gonzaga (17-6, 6-2) in a 78-73 West Coast Conference winner over Santa Clara (14-6, 5-3) at Spokane, Wash. Gonzaga shares first place in the WCC with Portland (13-7, 6-2), a 69-62 home-court winner over San Francisco (12-9, 3-5). . . . Donminic Ellison, a transfer from Washington State, scored 22 points to lead New Mexico State (14-8, 4-4) to an 84-69 Big West Conference victory over Utah State (16-5, 7-1) at Las Cruces, N.M.