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Late Spider Rally Nearly Snaps Home Opener Streak
BYROBBIPICKERAL
SPORTS EDITOR
The last time North Carolina’s men’s
basketball team lost its home opener, the
year was 1929. That’s 66 opening ‘W’s in
a row an almost unbelievable stat.
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that record was under attack —and the
streak seemed to be falling fast.
After building a 23-point lead against
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Richmond at halftime, the Tar Heels al
lowed the inexperienced Spiders to scrap
back and actually make it a contest in the
second halfinftontofa crowd of 18,394.
But UNC eventually wonit, 83-76, after
the Spiders sliced the lead to one with a
barrage of 3s and forced the Tar Heels to re
evaluate the complacency of their play.
“I’m actually embarrassed at the way
we played,” said senior guard Dante
Calabria. “We’re not supposed to play like
that.
“I kind of think we can take this as a
loss.”
Indeed, it was a loss in the second half,
as UNC was outscored (52-36), out-as
sisted (10-6), out-treyed (10-1) and simply
out-played by Richmond. The Tar Heels
did win the rebounding war, 20-16, and
that’s what eventually won it for them.
“We are young, and these guys might
have thought that the game was over at
halftime,” Calabria said. “But you’ve got
to realize that it’s a 40 minute game.”
Richmond began chipping away at the
Tar Heels’ 47-24 lead just after halftime.
The teams seemingly traded baskets in the
first nine minutes —but the Spiders actu
ally traded 2s for 3s, and that became a very
big problem for the Tar Heels.
The trey barrage began at the 17-minute
mark when sophomore guard Daryl Oliver
hit a 3 to cut the lead into the teens. Oliver
missed on the next trip down, but that was
the only attempt from behind the arc that
Richmond missed for the next 13 minutes,
as the Spiders shot 10 of 16 from trey-land
in the second half.
"They hit some great 3s —some of
them were really covered,” UNC coach
Dean Smith said. “We tried the zone after
four straight to try to cover them, and they
still made them.”
The star of the comeback was sopho
more guard Carlos Cueto, who hit 5 of 6,
including four treys, for 16 points in the
second half.
“Dean Smith told me after the game,
‘Oh, kid, we didn’t know you could shoot, ’”
Cueto said. “I was like, ‘dag.”’
Cueto hit Richmond’s second trey of
the second half at the 14:49 mark to shave
the lead to 18. Ten minutes and nine sec
onds later, his fourth trey of the half cut the
lead to 1, 72-71.
“The fact that they came back to 1, even
really surprised me, but they just kept chip-
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North Carolina guard Shammond Williams (3) drives past a Richmond
defender in the Tar Heels' 83-76 win Tuesday night. Williams had four assists.
ping away, chipping away, and we just
gained the momentum and went with it,”
said Richmond coach Bill Dooley.
But it wasn’t just a Spider spark that
allowed the comeback—it was a Tar Heel
letdown. UNC showed less fire in the sec
ond stanza than its first-half gusto, as both
its shooting and defense slowed down.
“We weren’t as tenacious on defense—
the intensity wasn’t there the second half,”
Calabria said.
UNC got out of its one-point jam via a
Shammond Williams. The Greenville na
tive swiped the ball at midcourt and turned
the play into a layin-plus-one when he was
fouled by forward Adam Mobley. The Tar
Heels never relinquished more than a four-
SPORTS
point lead after that.
UNC started the first half on a tear, as
center Serge Zwikker got 10 of his team
first 13 points. Then the freshman triumvi
rate of forwards took over, as Ademola
Okulaja, who started his first game as a Tar
Heel, scored seven of his nine points int he
opening stanza; Antawan Jamison had
seven points and four boards; and Vince
Carter converted a two-handed jam from a
JeffMclnnis pass from mid-court.
“It was really just a tale of two halves,”
Dooley said. “Our kids came out in the
first half — and we tried to do something
(before the game) about the aura of playing
in the Smith Center, but I think in the first
half it didn’t work too well, obviously.”
UNC Stumbles in Second Stanza
After Rocking Richmond in First
BYTODD GRAFF
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
First half success may have come to
easy for North Carolina Tuesday night.
The Tar Heels completely overwhelmed
Richmond in the opening stanza, as Serge
Zwikker dominated his smaller counter
parts on the inside, drilling all five of his
shots, and UNC got seven points each
from the freshmen trio of Ademola Okulaja,
Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter.
“Our kids came out in the first half, and
we tried to do something about the aura of
playing in the Smith Center, but I think in
the first half it didn’t work too well
obviously,” Richmond coach Bill Dooley
said.
The Tar Heels looked like a well-oiled
machine in mid-season form preparing for
the postseason.
“In the first half, we were complement
ing each others’ game,” Carter said. “We
were looking for each other.”
And they were looking for each other in
the right spots. Zwikker benefited from
much of the passing, getting easy look after
easy look underneath.
Then Mclnnis had a steal near half
court, and he found a streaking Vince
Carter, who electrified the crowd with his
first slam in the Smith Center, a two-handed
tomahawk.
From there,UNCboltedtoa 15-4 run to
lead by 25 with four minutes left in the first
half.
“We really thought we had the game in
the bag,” Carter said.
But it was too easy. It seemed that the
Tar Heels almost lulled themselves to sleep
with their stellar first half.
“It’s hard to keep going and keep that
big lead," Mclnnis said. “It’s hard to keep
playing with intensity if you’re up 20 or 30
points.
“We died down a little, and they were
making their 35.”
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Wednesday, November 29,1995
Suddenly the Spider shots that were
missing in the first half were falling from
everywhere. Backcourt mates Carlos Cueto
and Daryl Oliver combined to hit eight-of
nine 3-pointeis in the second half, after
missing all four in the first.
“It seemed like to me they made every 3
in the second half,” Mclnnis said.
But it wasn’t simply that Richmond’s
shots started to fall. Sure, Cueto and Oliver
nailed shots with defenders in their faces,
but they also saw a good share of wide
open 3-pointers.
“We weren’t as tenacious on defense,
and the intensity wasn’t there the second
half,” UNC guard Dante Calabria said.
And during stretches, the Tar Heel of
fense was almost as obliging. While the
Spiders were in the midst of a 38-18 run,
the Tar Heels failed to move the ball as
crisply as the first half. They settled for
long-jumpers and quick shots rather than
the multiple passes that earned them easy
first-halfbuckets.
“When you have a large lead, you still
have to come down and make good shots, ”
UNC coach Dean Smith said. “You can’t
come down and shoot quickly.
“No. 2, defensively, you have to know
each time to limit them to one shot. They
got second shots. You have to know who
the shooters are.”
Carter said, “In the second half we got
to the point were we wanted to one-on-one
things.
“I think that hurt us.”
And as the Tar Heels’ lead slowly de
creased, they never could find the remedy.
It was only on a Shammond Williams steal
steal and 3-point play with three minutes
remaining that the Tar Heels had finally
suppressed the Spider run.
“I’m sure it was a learning experience,”
Calabria said. “But, we should have put
these guys away. We had them down pretty
good. You get complacent and that’s what
happens.”
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