Haywood Gives Tar Heels a Late Gift

Brendan Haywood spent part of Christmas Day in the gym practicing his free throws. It finally paid off Sunday.

Haywood made two free throws with 1:17 left as No. 5 North Carolina remained undefeated in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 60-52 victory over North Carolina State at Raleigh, N.C.

The 7-foot Haywood came into his senior season a 63% free-throw shooter, but has struggled this season, making only 49% of his attempts. And he missed his first two Sunday before coming through with the game on the line.

“You guys don’t understand how hard he works at the foul line,” North Carolina Coach Matt Doherty said. “It’s neat to see it pay off.”

Haywood, who is making only 39% of his free throws in ACC games, said he spent about 1 1/2 hours in a Greensboro gym on Christmas Day.

“Everybody else was opening their presents about 10 o’clock in the morning and I was in the gym shooting free throws,” Haywood said.

“I was a little nervous, you don’t want to be too overconfident or smug about it,” he said of his thoughts as he stepped to the line with the Tar Heels holding a one-point lead. “I knew I had missed my first two, but at the same time I just was thinking about the mechanics and I said them all in my head before I shot and it came through for me.”

Haywood was only two for nine from the line in his previous two games.

“I was thinking I wanted to see how mentally tough he is,” teammate Joseph Forte said when Haywood stepped to the line. “I came up to him and told him, ‘Just make one for me.’ He made two for me. He went the extra mile as far as I’m concerned.”

Twenty-five seconds after making the two clutch free throws, Haywood blocked a three-point attempt by Scooter Sherrill in the left corner and North Carolina got the ball back.

Haywood helped the Tar Heels, 17-2 overall and 7-0 in the ACC, beat the Wolfpack (10-8, 2-5) for the sixth time in a row and 10th time in 11 games. He finished with 10 points, six rebounds and five blocked shots.

The Tar Heels held their 14th consecutive opponent under 50% shooting and haven’t lost since Dec. 2 against Kentucky.

Anthony Grundy, playing one day after being arrested on an assault charge, had 12 points for North Carolina State.

No. 17 Iowa State 72, Texas A&M; 53--The Cyclones made 21 of 25 free throws, including their first 11, to win the Big 12 Conference game at College Station, Texas.

Iowa State (17-3 overall, 5-2 Big 12) controlled the game from the start against the Aggies (6-13, 0-7), who lost their seventh straight game.

The crowd at Reed Arena observed a moment of silence before the game in honor of 10 people, including two Oklahoma State basketball players, who died in a plane crash Saturday night while returning from a game in Colorado.

The Cyclones struggled with their emotions because of the crash.

“It was far more than a somber day. I didn’t sleep last night,” Iowa State Coach Larry Eustachy said. “I’m personally probably closer to the Oklahoma State program than I am with any other program in the conference. I cried a little bit, cried a lot. It’s amazing.

“It’s a tough, tough situation and our heart’s pour out to them. It really does. It puts this game in perspective. We moved on, both teams, but we still have Oklahoma State on our minds.”

WOMEN

Sheana Mosch had her third consecutive big game since Alana Beard was sidelined because of a dislocated thumb, making all 12 of her shots in scoring a career-high 30 points as No. 4 Duke defeated No. 15 Clemson, 92-42, at Durham, N.C.

The Blue Devils (20-1, 8-1 ACC) handed the Lady Tigers (15-5, 6-3) their worst loss in 21 years and won for the 11th consecutive time since a 93-75 loss at Clemson on Dec. 9.

“We just remembered what it felt like to lose there,” said Duke’s Iciss Tillis, who scored 16 points. “It felt awful. We didn’t want it to happen again. I guess it was payback time.”

Was it ever.

Duke dominated from the opening tip. The Blue Devils scored the first seven points, led 56-19 at halftime and never let Clemson (15-5, 6-3) mount any sort of run in the second half.

In other games: No. 3 Tennessee outrebounded Old Dominion, 25-5, on the offensive boards and 50-25 overall on its way to an 87-70 victory at Norfolk, Va. The Lady Vols (21-1) opened the second half with a 23-8 run to take a 66-39 lead. Old Dominion (10-6) couldn’t get closer than 17 points after that. . . . No. 5 Georgia (18-3 overall, 6-1 SEC) shut down No. 16 Vanderbilt (15-5, 4-3), the top-shooting team in the country, for a 76-59 victory at Athens, Ga. . . . Katie Douglas scored seven of her 24 points in overtime--including the go-ahead three-point play--as No. 6 Purdue (19-3, 9-0 Big Ten) won its 11th straight game, 75-70 over Wisconsin (12-7, 6-3) at West Lafayette, Wis. . . . Caton Hill scored 22 points to lead Oklahoma (15-4, 6-1 Big 12) to a 84-66 victory over No. 9 Texas Tech (15-3, 6-1) at Norman, Okla. . . . Brandi McCain scored 30 points and No. 10 Florida (17-2, 5-1 SEC) won its 14th consecutive home game, a 91-53 victory over South Carolina (8-12, 3-4). . . . Marie Ferdinand scored 25 points to lead No. 11 Louisiana State (14-5, 5-2 SEC) past Mississippi State, 78-54, at Baton Rouge, La. . . . Taru Tuukanen scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead No. 18 Xavier (17-2, 8-1 Atlantic 10) to an 83-73 victory over Rhode Island (8-11, 1-6) at Kingston, R.I. . . . Kelly Mazzante scored 28 points to lead No. 19 Penn State (13-6, 5-3 Big Ten) to a 97-49 victory over Michigan State at State College, Pa.