North Carolina Duo Heats Up

Joseph Forte and Brendan Haywood proved their season-opening performances were aberrations for sixth-ranked North Carolina.

Forte scored a career-high 38 points and Haywood added 24 as the Tar Heels cruised to a 91-81 victory over Tulsa on Saturday night in the championship game of the NABC Classic at Chapel Hill, N.C.

“They remind me of two other guys back in my days here--Jordan and Worthy,” said Tulsa Coach Buzz Peterson, a former teammate of North Carolina Coach Matt Doherty. “Once they get rolling, they’re tough to stop. North Carolina has some weapons out there.”

Forte and Haywood had their problems in the first round of the tournament--Haywood with early foul trouble and Forte with two-for-11 shooting as each managed only 10 points against Winthrop.

Things were different against the Golden Hurricane (1-1).

Forte made 10 of 18 shots and 12 of 13 free throws, and also had 10 rebounds and six assists. His previous high was 28 against Tulsa in the NCAA tournament last season.

“People put me on All-American teams, so I can’t go out there shooting two for 11,” said Forte, a preseason All-American. “The only difference tonight was that the ball went in.”

Haywood added eight rebounds and six blocks.

Arizona State 76, Winthrop 68--Alton Mason scored 18 points, nine in the final 1:38, to lead the Sun Devils (1-1) in the consolation game of the NABC Classic.

Mason made nine of 10 free throws down the stretch to fend off Winthrop’s rally and match his career high for points.

Greg Lewis led Winthrop (0-2) with 14 points.

WOMEN

No. 5 Duke 56, No. 7 Louisiana State 45--Freshman Alana Beard scored 20 points to lead the Blue Devils in the championship game of the Women’s Sports Foundation tournament at Albuquerque.

Beard, the tournament most valuable player, added eight rebounds for Duke (2-0), which held the Lady Tigers to two field goals over the final 10 minutes of the first half.

Marie Ferdinand scored 22 points for LSU (1-1) on eight-of-18 shooting, while the rest of the Lady Tigers made only eight of 38 shots.

Beard scored six points early in the second half to put Duke ahead, 33-24, and LSU got no closer than eight the rest of the way.

New Mexico 75, UCLA 54--Jordan Adams scored 24 points and the Lobos scored the final 11 points of the first half en route to a lopsided victory in the consolation game of the Women’s Sports Foundation tournament.

Adams also had 11 rebounds as New Mexico (1-1) had a 50-37 rebounding edge on the Bruins (0-2). The Lobos had 16 offensive rebounds, seven by Adams.

New Mexico’s run in the first half erased a 29-24 UCLA lead and the Lobos never trailed again. A 10-0 run in the second half gave New Mexico a 59-37 lead with 9:42 to play.

Michelle Greco scored a career-high 28 points in 34 minutes for UCLA, making 12 of 23 shots before suffering a sprained right ankle late in the game.

No other Bruin scored more than six points.

No. 4 Purdue 84, Eastern Michigan 60--Camille Cooper scored 21 points to lead the Boilermakers at Indianapolis in the first round of the Preseason NIT.

Kelly Komara scored 15 points, Katie Douglas added 12 and Cherrise Graham 10 for the Boilermakers, who shook off a slow start with a dominant second-half performance.