Sports Tuesday
fSr
■
BRIAN MURPHY
PLAYER TO BE NAMED LATER
UNC's Armor
Showing Signs
Of Weakness
There seem to be few sure things
in college athletics these days.
Notre Dame football faces
NCAA sanctions. Underclassmen are
fleeing Duke.
And on Saturday, two of the most
storied programs in men’s basketball
history met with more than a little lus
ter lost. UCLA, the most decorated
team in college basketball, entered the
contest just 1-2 in the PAC-10 after a
drubbing by Southern California.
Bruin forward Jaßon Rush is facing
NCAA sanctions for taking money
from a Los Angeles agent. UCLA had
fallen out of the The Associated Press
Top 25. And Steve Lavin is facing the
daunting task of maintaining an unat
tainable level of success.
The Bruins flew cross country to
take on another program struggling to
live up to its past. If UCLA dominated
the 1960 sand 70s, North Carolina has
been the most consistent team of the
last quarter century. The Tar Heels
have been in the NCAA Tournament
every season since 1974-75. They have
won at least 21 games in each season
since 1970-71.
And since 1966-67, UNC has fin
ished the year ranked in The
Associated Press and Coaches’ polls.
UNC has been ranked for 172 consec
utive weeks in the AP poll, the second
longest streak ever.
But as they prepared to do battle
with the program that has the longest
such streak, the Tar Heels’ remarkable
run began to show signs of slowing
down.
Four nonconference losses before
Christmas and a lethargic performance
against Wake Forest were just the high
lights of a poor beginning that
dropped North Carolina from No. 2 to
14th in the nation.
Some fans and media were once
again questioning the ability of coach
Bill Guthridge to carry on the UNC
tradition.
The old claims appeared: He’s too
old to identify with today’s players. He
doesn’t motivate the guys. He’s not
active enough on the sidelines.
And the one that stings the most:
He’s an assistant coach.
Saturday, both UCLA and North
Carolina had a chance to at least hold
the naysayers at bay. A win against the
Bruins would salvage the Tar Heels’
dismal nonconference record. A win at
UNC would put the Bruins back in the
Top 25.
Saturday night, Lavin slept well.
And the UNC critics were pounding
away on the laptops or in the Internet
chat rooms.
Guthridge’s players appeared lazy
and couldn’t solve UCLA’s matchup
3-2 zone. They lacked the ability to
take the lead at home. They couldn’t
grab a defensive rebound when it mat
tered most, and they got two bad shots
at game’s end.
The mystique of the Smith Center is
quickly evaporating. Bruin guard Rico
Hines provided UNC with bulletin
board fodder earlier in the week when
he said UCLA thought UNC would
be an easier game than Duke. Hines
pumped his chest in I-told-you-so fash
ion after the win.
The Tar Heel faithful could do noth
ing but acknowledge that Hines was
right. UNC is no longer the toughest
game on Tobacco Road, not to men
tion the nation.
And now many of UNC’s streaks
appear in jeopardy. The Tar Heels fell
to No. 21 in Monday’s AP poll. A loss
to a surprisingly good Virginia team
tonight would probably end the Tar
Heels’ run in the Top 25.
With 11 wins, North Carolina needs
10 wins in its last 13 ACC games - or
tome tournament victories - to reach
21 wins.
And as last year’s first-round loss to
tVeber State showed, tourney victories
- like most things - are not guaran
teed any more.
Brian Murphy can be reached at
bmurphy@email.unc.edu.
wsr \. 1 j
DTH/MlllEß PEARSALL
UNC freshman guard Joseph Forte tries to keep possession against
UCLA's Earl Watson in the Bruins' 71-68 victory at the Smith Center.
k L ui)
... v;;; r |
ilaipf Jjt M ML I
DTH/KATHERINE EAKEF
North Carolina women s basketball coach Sylvia Hatched shows the frustration of losing five games in a row for the first time since 1990-91
UNC Loses Again Despite New Look
Mosley's 24 Points Push Wake Forest
Past Tar Heels for Ist Time Since '9l
By Will Kimmey,
Assistant Sports Editor
WINSTON-SALEM - North
Carolina women’s haskethall roach
Sylvia
H a t c h e 11
decided to
make some
changes that
would help
Women'*
Basketball
UNC 56
Wake 69
end her team’s four-game losing streak.
Still trying to deal with the loss of
point guard
Nikki Teasley, String of Losses
the No. 15 Tar Without Teasley
Heels started Tough to Take
Sunday’s game Se e Page 10
with anew look
backcourt.
Freshman Cherie Lea got her first career
start at the point and was flanked by
shooting guard Jasmyn Huntington.
Despite the changes, UNC still ended
up with the same result -a loss. A
i
♦ i
record crowd of
4,031 for a
women’s basket
ball contest at
Lawrence Joel
Coliseum watched
Wake Forest hand
North Carolina a
69-56 setback.
The loss
marked UNC’s
first five-game
slide since the
team dropped
eight straight in
the 1990-91 cam-
Daiim. It was also
Junior center
Jackie Higgins
led the Tar Heels
with 17 points,
14 rebounds
and six steals.
it vaa uiau
the first time the Deacons (6-10, 2-3 in
the ACC) have beaten the Tar Heels
since that ’9O-91 season -a streak of 18
games.
While Hatchell’s changes didn’t bring
about the result she hoped for, Wake
coach Charlene Curtis made a move
that paid huge dividends.
UNC Fails to Silence Critics
In Uninspired Loss to UCLA
The North Carolina men's
basketball team has lost
consecutive games for the
second time this season.
By Brian Mirphy
Senior Writer
Silence. Complete silence.
As North Carolina coach Bill
Guthridge defended his team’s play in
Saturday’s
71-68 loss to
UCLA, his
players sat in
the locker
room in com
plete silence.
Men’s
Basketball
UCLA 71
UNC 68
Jason Capel had his towel-covered
head in his locker. Others showered and
dressed in silence. Some just sat with
blank stares.
Moiso, Haywood
Hook up in Battle
Of Criticized Titans
See Page 11
“After a loss,
you don’t want
to be jumping
up and down,”
center Brendan
Haywood said
after the players finally emerged to
speak with the media.
“At the same time, you don’t want to
hear guys yelling at each other or point
ing fingers. 1 feel silence right now is the
best.”
Missing the Point
The North Carolina women's basketball team has experienced an extreme drop in production
since point guard Nikki Teasley left the team for unexplained reasons four games ago.
Scoring FG Shooting 3-Point Assists Turnovers Team
PPG (Percent) (Percent) (Per Game) (Per Game) Result
With Teasley 78.7 355-833 80-223 .210 200 9-3
(17 Games) (.426) (.359) (17.5) (16.7)
Without Teasley
atUVa. 1/6 68 22-61 8-17 14 23 Lost 87-68
vs. Clem 1/10 59 17-60 5-22 11 20 Lost 60-59
at GT 1/13 44 19-78 3-18 7 14 Lost 55-44
at WF 1/16 56 23-76 6-26 11 14 Lost 69-56
Totals 56.8 81-275 22-83 43 71 0-4
(.295) (.265) (10.8) (17.8)
Curtis started senior guard Alisha
Mosley for the first time all season, and
Mosley responded by scoring a career
high 24 points, including the first five
points of the game. Mosley also hit 11 of
13 free throws and grabbed seven
rebounds.
“I’m a coach that doesn’t like to tin
ker with the starting lineup,” Curtis said.
“Alisha had been doing a great job com
ing off the bench. But I wasn’t real
happy with how we were starting. We
r
Even if the Tar
Heels, losers of
consecutive games
for the second
time this season,
aren’t speaking,
they know
Saturday’s loss will
give their critics
plenty to talk
about.
T he Tar Heels
turned the ball
over 17 times.
They missed cru
cial free throws
down the stretch.
UNC forward
Jason Capel
hit 7 of 12 shots,
including 3 of 6 from
behind the arc, to
finish with 21 points.
They were out-rebounded. And the
team played with the general malaise
that has plagued it all season.
With UNC (11-6) struggling lor no
apparent reason, most ‘critics have
harped on the team’s lack of intensity
and hustle.
Guthridge found himself once again
defending the intensity of his squad.
“Everybody keeps talking about intensi
ty and our lack of intensity. We’re not a
rah-rah type team, but I think that we’re
competitors and we play hard,” he said.
But despite Guthridge’s assessment,
the Tar Heels’ play was less than inspir
ing. Faced with a swarming Bruin
matchup zone, UNC never looked com
fortable. The Tar Heel big men were
nonfacinrs, leaving the offensive burden
were always behind in games.
‘Just the fact that she was out there -
she’s been a spark for us all year - made
a huge difference early.”
Mosley helped Wake gain a 7-0 lead,
and the poor-shooting Tar Heels (9-7,
1-5) never caught up. UNC, which had
connected on less than 34 percent of its
field goal attempts in its past four out
ings, continued its dismal shooting,
See WOMEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 10
UNC Wrestlers
Knock Off Virginia,
Lose to Maryland
North Carolina junior Corey Bell
(left) compiled a 2-0 record this
weekend in ACC competition on
the road against the Cavaliers and
Terrapins. Bell and the Tar Heels
defeated Virginia for the 26th
consecutive time. See Page 11.
to Capel and freshman Joseph Forte.
Haywood took just six shots, and
power forward Kris Lang managed just
seven as UCLA’s athletic forwards sur
rounded them. Content to kick the ball
out and seemingly confused by the
Bruins’ 3-2 alignment, neither could get
going.
The Bruins’ big men had no such
offensive troubles. Forward Jerome
Moiso had game highs in points (19) and
rebounds (10). Despite taking a cross
country flight following a loss to
crosstown rival Southern California, it
was UCLA (10-4) that came out of the
gate with energy.
Three-pointers from Earl Watson and
Jason Kapono staked UCLA to a 6-0
lead, and the Bruins stretched their mar
gin to 24-12 eight minutes into the
game.
Then seemingly the Tar Heels awoke.
UNC tied the contest at 37 and trailed
by one at the half.
But a quick UCLA start in the second
half had the Tar Heels playing catch up
again. Capel was the only UNC player
to score during the first 10 minutes of
the second half.
“We solved (the zone) for stretches,
and it seemed like they’d make an
adjustment, and then we’d struggle with
it again,” said Haywood, who had seven
points and six boards. “We just went
See MEN'S BASKETBALL, Page 11
Gymnasts
Vault Past
Radford
North Carolina's gymnastics
team placed at least four
members in the top six
spots of all four events.
Staff Report
North Carolina junior Brooke Wilson
registered victories in all four individual
events to take the all-around competi
tion and help the women’s gymnastics
team defeat Radford 190.850-181.300
score c 4 | UNC ... .190.850
39.100 in the Radford ...181.300
all-around
competition. She was followed by UNC
senior Meredith McDermott, who
grabbed second place with a score of
37.725.
North Carolina (1-0) placed at least
four gymnasts in the top six spots in all
four events.
Wilson, chosen last year as UNC’s
most outstanding gymnast, finished first
in the vault (9.750), uneven parallel bars
(9.750), balance beam (9.850) and floor
exercises (9.750).
McDermott
placed fifth in the
vault (9.475),
uneven parallel
bars (9.500) and
floor exercises
(9.400). She fin
ished sixth on the
balance beam
with a score of
9.350.
UNC senior
Julie Pasqualini
notched second
place finishes in
both the uneven
parallel bars
(9.625) and floor
j ——
M
| f
J J '-a* f
i -1
UNC junior
Brooke Wilson
won four individual
events to capture the
all-around title with
a score of 39.100.
exercises (9.625). She placed fourth in
the vault with a score of 9.500.
North Carolina’s Lisa Companioni
placed second in the balance beam by
scoring a 9.675 and grabbed third in the
vault with a score of 9.550.
UNC senior Megan Piper finished
third in the uneven parallel bars with a
score of 9.600. She also placed fifth in
the balance beam with a tally of 9.550.
North Carolina travels to
Washington, D.C. next Sunday to com
pete in the George Washington
Invitational.
The Tar Heels will take on William &
Mary, Radford, Temple and
Pennsylvania.
16