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PAGE 16 SCOREBOARD m DAVID MOSES YOUR BOY One loss: no reason for tears It’s time to fire Roy Williams. OK, I’m just joking, and while the loss at Wake Forest might just be a chink in the mighty Tar Heels’ armor, this team still has a lot to prove, espe cially the three juniors. Since the big three —Rashad McCants, Raymond Felton and Sean May have arrived on campus, the Tar Heels have only won four ACC road games. McCants looks like he might be back to his old ways, and May hasn’t come to play in a big game in a very long time. Last year in the NCAA Tournament, May stunk like the bowl of cereal that has been in my sink since fall break. In his return home to Bloomington this season, May once again didn’t play well, and he didn’t pick it up against Georgia Tech or Wake Forest. May is the key to the team, and it’s up to him to carry the Tar Heels to the promised land. The offense should revolve around the big man, and while he’s shooting over 50 percent for the first time in his career, he should be averaging more than the nine shots a game he is taking. Perhaps Felton was more caught up in the much-hyped point guard matchup against Chris Paul. Under no circumstances should Felton be shooting the ball 18 times in a game. I’ve heard from some that in order to be great at the next level, Felton had to improve his shot. It doesn’t look like it has improved much from last season, as he went l-for-7 from behind the arc against Wake Forest and 3-for-8 against Georgia Tech. After his poor showing against the Demon Deacons and his eight turnover performance against the Yellow Jackets, where he also went 3-for-11, perhaps it’s time for Felton to concentrate a little more on setting up the offense than looking for his own shot Seriously, 5-for-18 with 16 points is aline Kobe Bryant puts up, not numbers for somebody regarded as a top-five point guard in the nation. Even though the Deacons looked like the better team on Saturday, the loss was mostly due to perfect free throw shooting by a team that is traditionally more like Shaq on the charity stripe than J.J. Redick. Thanks to the almighty dol lar, the Tar Heels will not get a rematch against the Deacons, at least not in the regular season. While the consecutive pound ings of Maryland and Georgia Tech are going to look less and less impressive as the season pro gresses, there is no questioning that both wins were huge for the confidence of this unproven team. While they beat the Yellow Jackets like Randy Johnson destroys cameras, I don’t think anybody would say the Tar Heels played their best game. UNC shouldn’t drop another ACC game this season. Neither N.C. State nor Duke has the ath letes to play with the Tar Heels, and it should be a sweet victory in Cameron this season. Like no other team in the country, UNC has at least five guys who are capable of playing at the next level. Before Saturday, many believed the Tar Heels would run the table in the ACC and cut down the nets in St. Louis. One of those dreams is shat tered, but I still think that if UNC gets another crack at Wake Forest on a neutral court, which they should, the Tar Heels will come out on top. Despite the fact that some might call me the eternal pessi mist, I still think that UNC is the team to beat, and I don’t know if Illinois, Wake Forest, Kansas or any other team can. Contact David Moses at dmoses@email.unc.edu. Sports Tuesday GYMNASTICS UNC 190.85 Towson 188.375 Tar Heels get Wake-up call ..... DTH PHOTOS/LAURA MORTON Above: Wake Forest's Chris Paul (3) takes it to the hoop over Tar Heel Raymond Felton (2) in UNC's 95-82 loss. Right: Justin Gray (center) celebrates Wake's victory amid a sea of black and gold in Lawrence Joel Coliseum. Wake backcourt flawless BY DANIEL BLANK SENIOR WRITER WINSTON-SALEM - Justin Gray knew. He knew if he made the shot, the sellout crowd at Lawrence Joel Coliseum would erupt. He knew he would be delivering a significant blow to North Carolina. And when he released his 3- pointer from the top of the key early in the second half, he knew it was going in even though he had just UNC hammers Hurricanes BY BRANDON PARKER SENIOR WRITER Injuries, opposing defenses and time have all taken a shot at slowing down North Carolina’s inside-outside combination of Erlana Larkins and Ivory Latta. But none have proven to be up for this task. The duo was in full force from the start in UNC’s 83-52 victory against the Miami Hurricanes on Monday. Despite playing on a sprained ankle, Larkins scored nine of the team’s first 11 points, most of which came on inside dishes from Latta. Likewise, Latta fought off her ever-present bruises and scratches brought on by her aggressive play to create a 13-point streak of her own. WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Miami 52 UNC 83 This firepower allowed the Tar Heels to jump out to a 24-10 lead in the game’s first nine minutes and never look back. “I love having (Larkins) in the post,” Latta said. “My job can’t get any easier when I have a great post player like her down there.” Miami’s attempts to defend the inside presence of Larkins, who had 15 points, and sophomore forward Camille Little often left Latta with wide-open looks from the perimeter. “I was surprised by the shots I was able to get,” said Latta, who finished with 24 points. “I just kept rotating around while the ball was inside, and then my team mates found me open on the outside.” The defensive pressure by the Tar Heels (14-2,2-1 in the ACC) was key in eliminating open-shot opportuni ties for the Hurricanes. Little’s shadowing of Miami star forward Tamara James led to James’ 4-for-15 shooting performance, SEE MIAMI, PAGE 11 www.dthiinline.coni UNC 82 airballed his previous attempt. He just didn’t know how he got so wide open. “Man, I was surprised I was that open. It took me a couple seconds to get my hands on the ball, so I just wanted to knock it down,” said the Wake Forest shooting guard, who scored 13 points Saturday. “Whenever you hit a 3, in this type of atmosphere, you know the fans are going to go crazy,... and when that happens it’s going to step up B fHBBh ■■RHKJHHL —-La. as DTH/BRANDON SMITH North Carolina's Ivory Latta (12) drives past Miami guard Yalonda McCormick (10) as the Tar Heels blew past the Hurricanes 83-52. Latta had 24 points in Monday's rout. MEN'S SWIMMING UNC 172 Clemson 128 your defensive intensity. “You can tell a momentum shot, that’s one of those dagger shots that (Coach Skip Prosser) always talks about.” Gray’s 3-pointer came in the mid dle of a 15-3 Wake Forest run that the Deacons used to bury UNC. Gray, along with Chris Paul and Taron Downey, sunk those kind of shots all game as the Wake SEE BACKCOURT, PAGE 11 WOMEN'S SWIMMING UNC 218 Clemson 82 DEMON DEACONS GO 32-32 AT FOUL LINE TO SINK UNC BY DANIEL BLANK SENIOR WRITER WINSTON-SALEM - Maybe the only thing more übiquitous than the bright yellow shirts at Lawrence Joel Coliseum was the sound of the referee’s whistle. Fourth-ranked Wake Forest emerged with a hard-fought 95- 82 victory against No. 3 North Carolina in a ragged game in which the two teams combined to commit 51 personal fouls. “This was a nine-hour mara thon,” said Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser. “It was a good game between two high-caliber teams.” In all, nine players committed at least three fouls, and four play ers fouled out. The steady stream of infrac tions played greatly to Wake Forest’s advantage, and not just because the Demon Deacons who were a mediocre 66 per cent from the foul line entering the game shattered an ACC record by sinking all 32 of their free-throw attempts. The sporadic pace created by the constant whistles also played into Wake’s favor as the Deacons (15-1, 4-0 in the ACC) aimed to slow down the high-powered offense of the Tar Heels (14-2, 3-1). “I think because they’re such an up-and-down team, they get a lot of baskets in transition, I think the fouls definitely played a favor to us a lot more than it played to them,” said Taron Downey, who scored 18 points off the bench for the Demon Deacons, and hit three 3-point ers in a 90-second span to erase the Tar Heels’ last lead of the game early in the first half. Fouls played no bigger role than at the onset of the second half. North Carolina halved Wake’s 10-point halftime lead in less than 40 seconds thanks to five points by Rashad McCants. ■ jrfPBOE; y?iyp% jT \ pm®3K ■; flS WfHH k® ifijAßK! ' ~ : Wm - HjUnZ ~^| 1# iiiw^P-''■ (Ebp Saiixj (Ear MM JANUARY 18, 2005 But 20 seconds after his sec ond bucket, McCants picked up his fourth foul on a reach-in near half-court. With McCants relegated to the bench, Wake ripped off a 15-3 run to build a 17-point lead. “I think that when a team gets in foul trouble, other guys have to step up,” said McCants, who was serenaded with taunts of “Jail- Bird” in the second half. “I don’t think everybody on our team came to play tonight I didn’t come to play tonight. I got in early foul trouble, and we just need to play better.” North Carolina was only able to start chipping away at the lead after five Wake Forest fouls in the span of 1 minute, 4 seconds led to six free throws for the Tar Heels, who made 21 of 26 shots from the line. McCants sat for nearly 10 minutes after that fourth foul, but once he re-entered the game, he was next to unstoppable, scor ing 17 second-half points. The junior led North Carolina with 19 points despite playing just 20 minutes. “In the second half, we were much more competitive,” said North Carolina head coach Roy Williams. “I’m disappointed in the result, but I think it was a heck of a college basketball game.” But every late charge by McCants and the Tar Heels was answered by Wake Forest, par ticularly by star point guard Chris Paul, who scored 26 points and had eight assists to only one turnover. “I have confidence in him, and so do his teammates, that he will play well,” said Prosser, who is now 6-1 against North Carolina since arriving in Winston- Salem. “He is a very, very, very talent ed player with an excellent work SEE WAKE FOREST, PAGE 11 Littles defense destroys Miami Sophomore stops ACCs top scorer BY GABRIELLE DE ROSA SENIOR WRITER North Carolina’s Camille Little couldn’t explain the night-and day difference between her per formances against N.C. State and Miami. There wasn’t a particular pep talk or event that helped her turn her game around, but it seemed as though there was a Little look-alike in Reynolds Coliseum on Friday. “To me, I’ve been having a few bad games,” Little said. “I just try to stay positive and work a little harder.” The sophomore shot 5-for-l6 in the Jan. 9 loss to Maryland and 3-for-10 against the Wolfpack on Friday. “I just told her to get her act in SEE LITTLE, PAGE 11
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