PAGE 10
SCOREBOARD
m
BRIAN MACPHERSON
LEFT-HANDED SPECIALIST
I-AA sets
model for
postseason
If you’re not a resident of the
Granite State with an inter
est in football, you probably
never have heard of RJ. Harvey.
In case you missed it, the
5-foot-9 running back scam
pered for a 52-yard touchdown
in the fourth quarter of New
Hampshire’s game against
Georgia Southern on Saturday,
and it turned out to be the game
winning score in the Wildcats’
first-ever postseason victory.
But here’s the best part
Harvey’s heroics didn’t ensure that
his team would end perhaps its
most successful season with a win.
It ensured that his team’s sea
son will continue.
In an idea that makes far too
much sense for it to be adopted
by its wealthier cousin, Division
I-AA football doesn’t revolve its
postseason around individual
games boasting large payouts and
obscure sponsors.
Instead, the best teams in the
nation play each other in a tour
nament spanning four weeks in
November and December, a tour
nament that will crown one legiti
mate champion at its conclusion.
One champion. Quite a concept.
The flaws of the Division I-
A system continue to manifest
themselves up to three teams
will have no opportunity to play
for the national tide, despite end
ing the regular season undefeated.
■ Meanwhile, the simplicity of
the Division I-AA serves as a glar
ing reminder that there’s a better
way to determine a champion.
Look at it this way. The partici
pants in this year’s Silicon Valley
Classic, for example, will spend
four weeks in practice, rehearsing
plays repeatedly with no game on
the immediate horizon.
How obscure is this game?
If you can even name the two
teams involved in the last Silicon
Valley Classic, well, you either are
closely affiliated with UCLA or
Fresno State or you watch entire
ly too much college football.
This isn’t to say that the bowl
system is worthless. In fact, if
the sole aim of the NCAA and its
members is to create an oppor
tunity for revenue and exposure,
they have accomplished just that.
But if that’s the sole aim, we
need to stop pretending that any
thing close to a legitimate cham
pion can emerge from these games.
Wouldn’t it make more sense
to follow Division I-AA!s lead and
develop a tournament in which
the nation’s best teams can deter
mine a champion on the field?
In Division I-A, rather than
allowing the best teams in the
nation to compete against each
other, polls and computer calcu
lations assign only two teams to
compete for the national title.
It doesn’t matter if three other
teams have no losses, and it
doesn’t matter that those teams
never have a chance to prove
their worth on the field.
It only matters, it seems, that
we preserve a system of bowl
games that earns money for
both schools and sponsors but
does nothing to allow a clear-cut
national champion to emerge.
Sure, a 16-team playoff would
eliminate dozens of teams from
postseason competition, North
Carolina among them this year.
But the purpose of postseason
play shouldn’t be to create extra
fund-raising opportunities for
schools, and it shouldn’t be to
create advertising opportunities
for corporations such as EVl.net
and Pioneer Pure Vision.
The purpose of postseason
play should be to showcase the
nation’s best teams and to allow
as many teams as possible to
compete for a title.
When the NCAA understands
that, let me know. In the mean
time, I’ll be watching R.J. Harvey
compete for a national champion
ship.
Contact Brian MacPherson
at brimac@email.unc.edu.
Sports Monday
WRESTLING Minnesota Ist UNC 9th
UNC keeps rolling in Las Vegas
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAS VEGAS lvory Latta had
a game-high 28 points and eight
assists and Erlana Larkins added
22 points to lead No. 5 North
Carolina past UNLV 84-76 in
the title game of the Lady Rebel
Shootout on Sunday.
Latta took home the tourna
ment’s Most Valuable Player hon
ors, and teammate Leah Metcalf
added 10 points and six assists to
earn a spot on the all-tournament
team.
UNC 97 USC 65 \
A SMOOTH RIDE HOME
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DTH/ANDREW SYNOWIEZ
Above: North Carolina forward Jawad Williams (21) soars for an alley-oop dunk from Raymond Felton (2) in the Tar Heels' 97-65
victory against Southern California on Sunday. Below: UNC guard Jackie Manuel (5) scored a season-high 14 points in the rout.
Manuel impressive in Tar Heel rout
BY BRIAN MACPHERSON
SENIOR WRITER
Jackie Manuel needed to find a
new pregame routine —and fast.
The senior missed all four shots
he took against Santa Clara in
North Carolina’s season opener,
and his offensive woes improved
only slightly during the Tar Heels’
run to the Maui Invitational title.
Manuel bounced back in a big
way Sunday, scoring 14 points
including 10 in the first half to
spark UNC to a rout of Southern
California.
And when he emerged from
Tar Heels’ season ends despite victory
FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
For the second season in a row,
the North Carolina volleyball team
failed to qualify
for the NCAA
Tournament
despite a 3-1
win against
VOLLEYBALL
UNC 3
S. Carolina 1
South Carolina on Saturday.
After being selected for the
tournament every season from
1998-2002, the Tar Heels’ 19-15
www.dthDnlxne.coni
Sheena Moore led the Rebels
with 25 points, while Ran Dee
Henry had 19 points and nine
rebounds.
The Tar
Heels led by
as many as
18 points and
never trailed
after Metcalf
converted a
three-point
WOMEN'S
BASKETBALL
UNC 84
UNLV 76
UNC 63
Vilianova 56
play in the opening minutes.
North Carolina (5-0) hit 12 of
the locker room after the game,
he carried the secret to his suc
cess under his right arm NCAA
March Madness 2005.
“Tonight, I played video games
for like three hours, just to keep my
mind off the game and not think
about anything else,” he said. “Once
it was time for us to come down
here to the locker room, I told
myself, ‘Let’s go. Let’s get ready.’”
The strategy worked.
On top of his season-high 14
points, he grabbed four rebounds,
including three at the offensive
end, and he earned four steals.
record failed to impress the seed
ing committee, which announced
the brackets Sunday night.
But in her final game as a Tar
Heel, senior libero Caroline deßoeck
broke the all-time North Carolina
record for career digs as the team
closed out its regular season sched
ule with a 31-29, 33-35, 30-21,
30-15 win against South Carolina
Saturday in Columbia, S.C.
Deßoeck’s 29 digs against the
VOLLEYBALL UNC 3 South Carolina 1
its first 18 shots to take a 31-13 lead
midway through the first half.
The Tar Heels forced nine turn
overs during the outburst and
scored 22 points off turnovers
before halftime.
UNLV (2-3) answered with a
15-2 run, cutting the deficit to 33-
28 with about six minutes to play
in the half.
The Rebels capitalized on a
North Carolina technical, hitting
two foul shots after the Tar Heels
were whistled for having six play
And after one first-half
sequence in which he completed
a three-point play after a drive to
the basket and immediately drew
a charge on the Trojans’ ensuing
possession, the crowd began to
chant his name.
“I hear it,” he said with a laugh.
“It feels good to hear people chant
ing your name. But I also try to
stay focused and concentrate on
the game.”
That focus provided a spark for
the Tar Heels on both ends of the
floor.
Teammates and fans alike
expect a high-energy performance
SEE MANUEL, PAGE 7
Gamecocks gave her 1,579 for her
career, eclipsing the previous mark
of 1,558 that was established by
former teammate Laura Greene
who played from 1999-2002.
Senior Molly Pyles added 22
kills and 21 digs to lead the Tar
Heels.
North Carolina opened up a 15-
9 lead only to see the Gamecocks
(12-15) rally to tie the score at 24-
all. After a South Carolina attack
MEN'S BASKETBALL UNC 106 lowa 92
ers on the court following a time
out.
On Saturday, after scoring just
25 points in the first half, the Tar
Heels went on a 13-2 run to start
the second and survived a late
surge by No. 24 Vilianova for a
63-56 victory in the tournament’s
opening round.
“They told us to just forget
about the first half,” said Camille
Little, who scored 13 points for
North Carolina. “We started off
slow, but we knew it was anew
BY DANIEL BLANK
ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
A tenacious defensive effort propelled North
Carolina to an early insurmountable lead against
Southern California, and as halftime neared,
UNC was looking for an exclamation point to
punctuate the first half.
With a little more than a minute remaining,
junior Rashad McCants came down to the left
baseline to swat a shot from behind. After he
used a spin move to get away from one defender,
McCants threw a pass to Raymond Felton, who
proceeded to throw up a lob that Jawad Williams
threw down with two hands.
Williams’ dunk emphatically capped a 24-
4 run that UNC used to put away Southern
California as the Tar Heels went on to trounce
the Trojans 93-65 in the team’s first regular-sea
son game at the Smith Center this season.
“Defensively, in the first half, I thought it was
such a frenzy, and everybody was trying to help
each other out,” said UNC coach Roy Williams.
“We got some double teams that helped us early
and helped (us) create.”
Although the TVojans (1-1) knew UNC would
employ the trap, they still had no answer for it.
“We knew they were coming, we knew they
were going to trap, and we talked about that, but
we tried to dribble through the traps,” said USC
coach Henry Bibby. “We were prepared for it, but
they were long, athletic, quick, and they beat us
to some of the spots.”
Still jet-lagged from their trip to Maui, the
Tar Heels (4-1) missed easy opportunities in the
game’s first minute. But for the next 39, UNC
thoroughly dominated.
Five Tar Heels scored in double digits, led by
a game-high 23 by Jawad Williams. Their up
tempo offense led to a 28-15 edge in fouls drawn
and their frenetic defense forced 28 Trojan turn
overs. North Carolina capitalized on those turn
overs for 23 points.
By halftime, UNC had doubled USC, 56-28.
When Roy Williams emptied the bench with
5:26 left, the Tar Heels held a commanding 36-
point lead.
“The first three of our first four shots were
from six inches, but we missed those,” Roy
Williams said. “I was worried about us being a
little bit stagnant, a little too casual out there,
and I congratulate the kids for really being into
it on the defensive end of the floor.”
UNC also played an exceptional team game
on offense, dishing out 28 assists. Felton led the
team with 12, but nine other Tar Heels recorded
at least one assist as well.
Along with the team’s feverish defensive
intensity, Felton’s presence has been one of the
biggest differences in UNC’s winning streak in
which it has notched four resounding victories
after its shocking loss to Santa Clara in the sea
son opener.
“We’re doing a great job of distributing the ball
SEE SOUTHERN CAL, PAGE 7
■yr
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BaMßk * ;-''
error, Pyles put down four kills in
the next seven points to give the
Tar Heels a pair of game points at
29-27.
South Carolina came back to tie
the game before a service ace by
UNC senior Jayme Mitchell won
the game.
The Tar Heels had an opportu
nity to take a two games to none
SEE VOLLEYBALL, PAGE 7
(Thr Baily (Tar Mwl
NOVEMBER 29, 2004
game in the second half.”
Nikita Bell scored five straight
points to open the second half,
and the Tar Heels held Vilianova
(3-1-5 to just six points over nine
minutes.
“We just had to settle down and
play our game,” said Tar Heels’
coach Sylvia Hatched. “We got
going in the second half, but if
you look at the shot chart, we had
plenty of chances on the inside in
SEE LAS VEGAS, PAGE 7
DTH/LAURA MORTON
INSIDE
FOOTBALL
Big East confusion leaves UNC
unsure of opponent PAGE 6
H
WRESTLING
Junior Evan Sola places 2nd at
Mat Town Invitational PAGE 7