Trademark Win for North Carolina

It’s Matt Doherty and not Dean Smith on the North Carolina bench. But it’s still team before individual for the streaking Tar Heels.

No. 1-ranked North Carolina got career highs of 27 points from Jason Capel and 18 from Julius Peppers as the Tar Heels broke open a close game in the second half at Chapel Hill, N.C. Saturday en route to a 96-82 victory over No. 13 Maryland.

“If we win, everybody is going to get their credit, everybody is going to get their recognition,” Capel said. “When you have a lot of guys that are good players playing together and playing as a team, good things are going to happen.”

North Carolina, 21-2 and 11-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, won its 18th consecutive game--the nation’s longest streak and the program’s best since starting 21-0 in 1985-86.

Joseph Forte, who came in averaging 25.5 points in his last six games, had 23 points to go with seven rebounds and six assists.

But Forte, the second-leading scorer in the ACC, wasn’t the main offensive threat in this one as Capel, Peppers and Max Owens--all role players--combined to make 20 of 27 shots.

“This is not a one-man show,” Forte said. “Sometimes people forget that. I receive a lot of attention, but I play with some great players. That’s why we’re able to win.”

North Carolina shot a season-high 58%--making seven of 10 from three-point range--and was 19 for 20 on free throws.

Maryland (15-8, 6-5) lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 1-6 against ranked teams. The Terrapins also lost the regular-season series to the Tar Heels for the first time since 1993-94.

Maryland Coach Gary Williams said his team hasn’t been the same since blowing a 10-point lead in the final minute against No. 3 Duke at home on Jan. 27.

“Part of the great thing about being a basketball player is you go through situations like that and it makes you stronger for the rest of your life,” Williams said. “It’s about time we get off of that and quit feeling sorry for ourselves and just come out and play.”

Lonny Baxter led Maryland with 19 points and eight rebounds.

North Carolina led 56-53 with 14:50 left before going on a 10-3 run to take its first double-digit lead of the game. Peppers made an eight-footer, Capel had a fastbreak dunk and backup point guard Adam Boone made a shot in the lane just before the shot clock expired for a 66-55 lead.

Less than three minutes later, Owens--who doesn’t get much playing time behind Forte--made two three-point shots in a span of 23 seconds, putting the Tar Heels up by 15 with 7:41 remaining.

“When you get behind a team like Carolina it’s tough to play against them because you are not going to get a lot of easy looks because of their size inside,” Williams said. “Even if you beat their perimeter people you have to go over somebody who is pretty big.”

Peppers, a 6-foot-6, 270-pounder who led the nation in quarterback sacks as a defensive end on the football team, made the most of his start in place of injured Kris Lang. He powered inside to make seven of 10 shots. His previous high was 14 against Georgia Tech a week ago.

Capel’s previous high was 23 against Nevada Las Vegas in December 1999. He made 10 of 14 shots.

Each coach, meanwhile, was called for a technical foul in the opening 9 1/2 minutes and a mascot was thrown out at halftime.

“We were walking off the floor and when I turned around the mascot was acting like he was kicking my partner in the rear end,” said referee Duke Edsall. “That is not what [mascots] are here for. I then asked for him to be removed.”

No. 4 Michigan State 94, Minnesota 83--The Spartans (19-3, 8-3 in the Big Ten) used a late 8-0 run at Minneapolis to turn back the undersized and outmanned Golden Gophers (16-8, 4-7).

Michigan State led by as many as 21 points in the first half, but Minnesota--with only six scholarship players in uniform--pulled within 78-76 with 3:51 remaining. Andre Hutson then scored six of his 14 points during the decisive Spartan run.

No. 5 Kansas 77, Oklahoma State 61--Kirk Hinrich scored 20 points to lead the Jayhawks (18-3, 8-2 in the Big 12) at Lawrence, Kan. It was the third game and second loss for Oklahoma State (14-6, 5-4) since the airplane crash that killed two players and eight others connected with the program.

Hinrich made six of his first eight shots and was also instrumental in holding Oklahoma State’s Maurice Baker to 12 points--11 below his average in the Big 12.

Kansas’ Drew Gooden, who is averaging almost 16 points and nine rebounds, sat out the game with a wrist injury. He is expected to be sidelined at least three more games.

No. 7 Illinois 82, Purdue 61--The Illini (13-9, 9-2 in the Big 10) used a 24-7 second-half run at West Lafayette, Ind., to beat the Boilermakers (13-9, 5-6) for the first time in 10 games.

Purdue (13-9, 5-6) played without leading scorer Rodney Smith and leading rebounder and shot-blocker John Allison. Both are sidelined with foot injuries.

Carson Cunningham had 25 points for the Boilermakers. Brian Cook led Illinois with 17 points.

No. 8 Florida 73, Arkansas 63--Udonis Haslem scored seven of his 19 points in the final four minutes as the bigger and deeper Gators (16-5, 6-4 in the Southeastern Conference) wore down the Razorbacks (14-8, 5-5) in a physical game at Gainesville, Fla.

It was the fifth win in six games for Florida.

No. 9 Syracuse 63, Seton Hall 62--Allen Griffin’s baseline jumper with 7.3 seconds left was decisive for the Orangemen (19-4, 7-3 in the Big East) at Syracuse, N.Y.

After Griffin made his 8-foot shot while falling backward, Damone Brown got a piece of Desmond Herod’s long jumper from the left corner at the buzzer to preserve the victory. Brown also had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

The loss was the fourth in a row for Seton Hall (12-9, 3-7). Eddie Griffin had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Pirates.

No. 25 Mississippi 87, No. 10 Tennessee 71--Aaron Harper scored 23 points at Oxford, Miss., as the Bulldogs (19-4, 7-3 in the SEC) handed the Volunteers (18-6, 5-5) their fifth consecutive road loss.

Mississippi, which won only six conference games last season, has won four in a row and lead the SEC’s Western Division.

Tennessee played without point guard Tony Harris, who suffered a wrist injury while celebrating with a teammate last Saturday.

Northwestern 69, No. 14 Iowa 61--The Wildcats (9-15, 1-10 in the Big Ten) ended their regular-season conference losing streak at 32 games, holding the Hawkeyes (17-6, 6-4) to seven field goals in the final 12 minutes at Evanston, Ill.

Winston Blake led Northwestern with 20 points. Iowa lost for the second time in as many games with leading scorer Luke Recker, who is sidelined indefinitely with a broken knee cap.

Ohio State 63, No. 16 Wisconsin 58--The Buckeyes (16-8, 7-5 in the Big Ten) allowed the Badgers (15-6, 6-4) only two points in the final four minutes to defeat a ranked opponent for the third consecutive time.

Ohio State lost its first four games against ranked opponents this season, but defeated No. 3 Michigan State and No. 14 Iowa the last two weeks. Wisconsin had a winning streak end at five.

Brent Darby had 18 points to lead four double-figure scorers for Ohio State.

No. 17 Boston College 83, Virginia Tech 59--Troy Bell made five of seven three-point shots and and scored 22 points at Blacksburg, Va., as the Eagles (18-2, 9-1 in the Big East) exceeded their victory total of the last two seasons combined.

Boston College continued its start since the 1966-67 team coached by Bob Cousy went 23-2 but lost in the first round of NCAA tournament.

Virginia Tech is 8-14 and 2-9.

No. 18 Alabama 76, Georgia 68--Travis Stinnett made four three throws in the final 19 seconds at Tuscaloosa, Ala., to help the Crimson Tide (18-5, 7-4 in the SEC) hold off the Bulldogs (13-11, 6-5) and extend their home win streak to 16.

Alabama’s Rod Grizzard scored 15 points and had an acrobatic dunk off a missed free throw with 58 seconds left. The Crimson Tide had a 46-28 rebounding advantage.

No. 19 Wake Forest 71, Florida State 65--Robert O’Kelley, a reserve the last four games because of a shooting slump after playing a key role in the Demon Deacons’ NIT championship run last season, scored 18 points in 26 minutes at Tallahassee, Fla.

It was only the second ACC road victory for Wake Forest (16-7 and 5-6). Florida is 6-17 and 1-9.

No. 21 Oklahoma 75, Texas 54--Nolan Johnson scored 23 points at Austin, Texas as the Sooners (19-4, 8-3 in the Big 12) ended the Longhorns’ home win streak at 25.

Oklahoma has won 20 of the last 24 games with Texas (17-7, 6-4) and five of the last 10 on the Longhorns’ court.

No. 24 Xavier 78, Temple 71--Romain Sato made his first five shots--all from three-point range--and scored 19 overall to lead the Musketeers (18-4, 9-2 in the Atlantic 10) at Cincinnati.

Temple (14-11, 8-3) had won its last three games by margins of 26, 30 and 33 points but fell behind by 15 points early in the second half and never got closer than four again.