14 SCOREBOARD 2 i BhJti ' WM i cO^' MEjpW^y' £*£3a M'frWrr^* t\ *ifw "' •rTf^lrhi-'-jg' , ■. Bk~ - m* y§ A -nJBi b WjtitmJSkji' -jn*r’ ?.. 3 "*w&dm |b ggg ■&**[ 7M jL\ B JTw * 'klßd| S- S * ... iSHfiltaft ®W ( * Bm m nun i WHIP ~ J ' Efc. jfr Jm.¥ LZ?S>a tSF* " Hs IX : Hr Jfßr Jmmß:- w 40m Jr mx • ■ A \ l lm - , . ...,._ , . DTH/BRIAN CASSELLA UNC sophomore swingman Rashad McCants (32) releases the game-winning 3-pointer over UConn guard Rashad Anderson in North Carolina's 86-83 victory against the top-ranked Huskies on Saturday at the Smith Center. THE HEIGHT OF DRAMA i h m w mH DTH/GARRETT HALL UConn center Emeka Okafor (50) raises his arms in frustration during the first half of Saturday's game. Okafor paced the Huskies with 29 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks. Sports geeks are all show, no substance About two months ago I was invited to have dinner at the home of a Duke family. Contrary to what you may be thinking, the couple was very hospitable and cooked a fabulous meal for their son and his friends —a mixture of Blue Devils and Tar Heels. The dinner conversation quick ly turned to ACC basketball. The Duke men tossed around their predictions for the upcoming sea son, while the female company fell silent. I was rather intimidated because before I was admitted to this University two years ago, I assumed 3-point field goals sailed through goalposts, not hoops. Nonetheless, I couldn’t stand perpetuating any sports-related gender stereotypes by keeping quiet. I had little to offer except some research I had done earlier for a short preview of Maryland’s roster. Seizing a lull in the conversa tion, I spouted the few facts I knew: preseason ranking, recruit ing class information, statistics Sports Tuesday WOMEN'S BASKETBALL UNC 72 Maryland 59 BY JAMIE AGIN SENIOR WRITER Another North Carolina lead was going the way of the four-year college superstar. And the No. 9 Tar Heels, which have been dominated inside at times this season, was being destroyed again. The best player on the nation’s best team was, in typical fashion, doing the destroying. An Emeka Okafor baseline jumper. A dunk. A baseline turn around. A layup. Another baseline turnaround. All of it led to an atypical display from Roy Williams —a thrown towel, a slammed clipboard, but namely, a timeout. And his Tar Heels did some thing else they have struggled with this year, pulling out a tight 86-83 thriller against No. 1 Connecticut at the Smith Center on Saturday. “I think after I screamed and broke a clipboard and broke sever al blood vessels in my head, we GABRIEILE DEROSA SPORTS CHIC on Jamar Smith and a quote from Gary Williams. Cue sound of needle scratching record. Maybe the table was shocked because I was a girl who knew something about sports. Maybe they were embarrassed because they had neglected to study up on this year’s Terps. The answer is irrelevant, but it did get me thinking. How easy is it to parade as a sports connoisseur? All I did was flip through a media guide for an hour. How much effort did these guys put in? More importantly, why did I allow myself to feel so inferior by assuming they were SEE SPORTS GEEKS, PAGE 11 I www.dailytarheel.com | UNC 86 I UCONN 83 stopped going for the ball and then we tried to make him score over us,” Williams said. “I think we did a better job.” The win, UNC’s 10th all-time against top-ranked teams, resem bled the losses to Wake Forest, Kentucky and Maryland, during which double-digit leads van ished. “I do think the kids will gain a great deal from this win,” Williams said. “Now we’ve got to be able to take that same kind of defensive intensity on the road with us.” In the first half, the Thr Heels (11-3) got physical with the taller Huskies (14-2), forcing 14 turnovers. UNC went on a 19-5 run over the last six minutes and led 50-36 at halftime. “I thought the first half, they came in and bodychecked us and got into our stuff and wouldn’t let us move, and I didn’t know some of that was allowed,” said a caustic SEE MEN'S HOOPS, PAGE 13 Fencers dominate duals BY BRANDON COWARD STAFF WRITER For the first time in four years, Carmichael Auditorium was filled with the sounds of sword play as North Carolina dominat ed the competition at the Carolina Duals. The competition consisted of club teams from N.C. State, Johns Hopkins, Maryland, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Clemson and Florida, as well as the varsi ty team from Haverford. The North Carolina men swept the meet 7-0 on Saturday, improving their overall record to 15-1 (6-1 against varsity teams). The Tar Heel women’s squad was just as overpowering on Sunday, also sweeping its compe tition and improving to 14-3 (7-3). The men’s sabre contingent had the best performance of any of the groups, with two fencers, junior Wes Newkirk and fresh man Joe Pipkin, going undefeat ed for the tournament. “The men’s sabre team per formed relatively well,” Pipkin said. “There were a couple let downs here and there, but some times it’s hard to stay up for club teams.” WRESTLING Drexel 19 UNC 17 McCants shines in crunch time BY AARON Fin SENIOR WRITER Rashad McCants did not take over the end of North Carolina’s 86-83 win against top-ranked Connecticut on Saturday. He wasn’t the go-to guy. Sure, the sophomore swingman scored UNC’s final 10 points, including the game-tying and game-winning 3-pointers. Yes, he finished with a team-high 27 points on 10-of-l6 shooting. True, he simply played brilliantly. But McCants didn’t take over. Just ask UNC coach Roy Williams. “I don’t think he did that,” Williams said. “He ran the play I told him to run, he made the shot I told him to make I think I took over. “I don’t believe in that stuff about go-to. Just do the stuff I tell you to do, and it’ll work.” The coach paused, thought for a moment, then decided there was a little more to say. SEE McCANTS, PAGE 13 * W • Sgj| f| N DTH/JESSICA RUSSELL UNC senior Matt Jednak (left) fences against Virginia's Setton Smyth in an epee bout Saturday. Jednak won 5-3, one of his three wins. The women’s sabre squad, comprised of seniors Liz Rainbolt, Carolyn Hack and Jen Hunt, had a strong showing. The three went 43-7 in the meet. Their toughest match of the day came against Johns Hopkins. Six of the nine bouts they fenced against JHU were decided by one point; UNC won five of them. “Toughness is actually some thing the women’s sabre team has been working on,” Hunt said. “We NFC CHAMPIONSHIP Carolina 14 Philadelphia 3 yy. ap/ lift’ vi, HE jja .* ak- DTH/GARRETT HALL UNC coach Roy Williams (center) said he thought his players were "feeling sorry for themselves" during the second half of the Tar Heels' upset victory against Connecticut. used to be pretty sad at the pres sure point, in a 4-4 bout, but I think our improvement in that area shows how much we’ve matured.” While the women’s sabre team proved it could get a tough win, Coach Ron Miller felt the men’s team had the opposite problem; they lacked strong competition. “They won easily, but that’s SEE FENCING, PAGE 13 ©tf? Hath) ©ar Mwl JANUARY 20, 2004 UNC men swim to rare draw BY BRIANA GORMAN STAFF WRITER The scene looked all too famil iar on Sunday to the No. 22 North Carolina men’s swimming and div ing team. Swimmers lined the edges of the pool in Koury Natatorium to cheer their teammates on as the outcome of the meet came down to the last race again. Last week end, the men’s team lost the MEN'S SWIMMING Clemson 150 UNC 150 WOMEN'S SWIMMING Clemson 91 UNC 209 meet to Harvard after failingto win the final 400-yard freestyle relay. Victory was not meant to be again Sunday, but neither was defeat as the men came away with a rare tie, 150-150, against Clemson. The tie denied the swimming program its 500th dual meet win, yet history was made as it was the SEE SWIMMING, PAGE 13