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PAGE 12 SCOREBOARD MEN'S SWIMING & DIVING lemson 132 UNC 168 RUNNING 'N' GUNNING UNC DROPS 25 UNANSWERED ON N.C. STATE IN RIVALRY WIN BY DAVID ELY SPORTS EDITOR For about 10 minutes Saturday, it looked as though the North Carolina mens basketball team might have a game on its hands. N.C. State was only down 16-11 and was doing a good job of keep ing the Tar Heels from settling into a offensive rhythm, and UNC point guard TV Lawson had missed the previous five minutes because of a sprained right ankle. But at the 10:47 mark of the first half. Lawson checked back in and the Tar Heels began to execute their game plan with brutal pre cision. The ensuing nine minutes MEN'S BASKETBALL UNC 93 and 6 seconds became a basket ball clinic as No. l UNC (17-0. 2- 0 ACC) scored 25 straight points en route to a 43-13 halftime lead and a 93-62 victory at the Smith Center. “We obviously played a great half of basketball." North Carolina junior Marcus Ginyard said. "Everybody on the same page defensively, executing offensively. ... We were tough to stop." As hard as it was to slow down UNC. tlie same cannot be said about the Wolfpack (11-4. 0-1), who tixik offensive ineptitude to anew level in the first half, scoring just 13 points. Whenever a N.C. State guard beat his man on the perimeter or a for ward had low-post position, there was a second Tar Heel defender to challenge the shot or force the ball away from the basket. And with a defender in the face of nearly every N.C. State shooter, the Wolfpack missed 18 shots in a row while shooting just 6-for-34 for the half. “They had a lot of shots that they normally make that didn't go in for them today," Tar Heel coach Roy Williams said. “I think our Tenacious ‘D’ sparks Tar Heel rout Wolfpack held to 13 first-half points BY GRAY CALDWELL SENIOR WRITER It's hard to see how No. 1 North Carolina could get any better, but Hashes of brilliant defense in Saturday's win against N.C. State set anew standard. Tire TV Heels put together one of their best defensive performances of the season particularly in the first half something North Carolina coach Roy Williams said he’s been preaching all season. UNC forced 17 turnovers, eight of Heels fall to Terps, power past Crusaders Maryland rally topples Tar Heels BY DANIEL PRICE ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR A tough ACC-opening loss Sunday at Carmichael Auditorium left the North Carolina wrestling team with something to prove. Unfortunately for Belmont Abbey, the Tar Heels proved it all over the Crusaders. After build ing an eight point lead against No. 21 Maryland, UNC couldn’t quite hold on against the Terrapins, losing 19-17 before rebound ing against Belmont Abbey 48-0. WRESTLING Maryland 19 UNC 17 BAC 0 UNC 48 ONLINE Keegan Muller of UNC is becoming a leader. See daily tarbeel.com. When UNC junior 165-pound er Keegan Mueller took a major decision from Maryland's Mike McGill the fourth win for North Carolina (4-3, 0-1 ACC) in the first six matches the Sports Monday defense had something to do with it. but it wasn’t the only reason." Setting the tone defensively for the Tar Heels was the frontcourt trio of Danny Green, Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson. Those three forwards combined to block nine shots on the day while collecting 25 of UNC s 50 rebounds. Their ability to rotate on the weak side and anticipate what the Wolfpack were doing offensively contributed in holding N.C. State’s low -post duo of Brandon Costner and J.J. Hickson to 18 points. That defensive effort sparked the North Carolina attack and led to numerous fast-break baskets. After multiple N.C. State missed field goals. Lawson would get an outlet pass from either Green. Thompson or Tyler Hansbrough and then race up court to jumpstart a possession. Two or three passes later, the ball would end up back in the hands of a Tar Heel shooter or one of the bigs for two easy points as UNC poured it on the Wolfpack, which surprised few in the North Carolina locker room. “You can say that you were sur prised but then when you go back and look at how we played and the pressure that we put on N.C. State, then you start to understand why it shouldn’t really he that surprising," Ginyard said. “The things that we did and the things that we made them do. that should equate to the lead that we had.* Offensively. UNC posted a bal anced attack that saw five players score in double figures, highlighted by Lawson and Thompson, who each chipped in with 16 points. The 16 points scored by Thompson was a career high. The second half saw the Tar Heels relax a bit defensively els N.C. State warmed up offensively, but the lead never fell below 26 points, SEE ROUT. PAGE 6 which came off steals. The Wolfpack shot an abysmal 17.6 percent from the field in the first half as UNC blocked more shots eight than N.C. State made six. “You definitely can’t take all the credit," UNC junior Marcus Ginyard said. “They definitely missed some tough shots inside, but 1 think that just being there with the hands up, contesting, boxing out something that’s going to wear on a team, and they might not lx- mak ing as many shots." • jJHBr H DTH/KEIVIN YEUNG North Carolina's Keegan Mueller gets a hold on his opponent. Mueller won both of his matches Sunday against Maryland and Belmont Abbey. Tar Heels led 14-6. But with the Terps’ putting up three-straight nationally ranked wrestlers, UNC had a tough row to hoe if it hoped to open the ACC season with a win. www.dailytarheel.com WOMEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING lemson % UNC 204 WOMEN'S SWIMMING & DIVING Rutgers 131 UNC 173 ifp lllll f Wmm |^ |P v ]£ jjjjlsi| 1 WMffr DTH/LAUREN COWART North Carolina sophomore forward Deon Thompson shoots over his defender in Saturday's 93-62 UNC victory against N.C. State. Thompson dropped a career-high 16 points to go along with five boards and three blocks. The Wolfpack only managed 13 points in the first half the few est allowed by UNC in a half in 10 years, and the second-fewest in the last 29. “I don’t think anyone can beat us if we play defense like we did in the first half," said North Carolina forward Deon Thompson, one of the stars of the defensive effort. Thompson scored a career-high 16 points along with three blocks. The blocks were part of a great performance with weak-side help defense. Whenever it looked like N.C. State had a lane to the bas ket in the first half, it seemed like “We knew it was going to be tough," UNC assistant coach A.J. Grant said. “We know that we’re tough in the lower weights and SEE WRESTLING. PAGE 6 someone was always there to con test the shot or swat it away. “We wait for the big man to make a move, and once he makes a move, we try to dig down and make him kick it back out, and they didn't do a good job of it in the first halfT Tar Heel junior Danny Green said. Green had a career day ofhis own. notching hLs first double-double of the season. He filled up the stat sheet with 13 points, 14 rebounds —a career high six assists and four blocks tied for his personal best. It was his all-around effort that set the tone in the game. “I said the other day that I feel Larkins powers UNC past ’Pack BY SAMANTHA NEWMAN SENIOR WRITER RALEIGH - The bandage covering Erlana Larkins' left hand resembled a small boxing glove, and the North Carolina senior certainly threw some punches Sunday after noon at the Reynolds Coliseum. They came in the form of 22 points and eight rebounds as Larkins led her team past N.C. State 79-70 in a battle of the post. In her third game since breaking her left hand on Dec. 30, Larkins took control of the paint, banging bodies without hesitation and drawing fouls with her aggres sive pushes to the basket. “With her WOMEN'S BASKETBALL N.C. State 70 UNC 79 INSIDE Key bench players come up big in the Tar Heel victory. PAGE 4 situation, most players would be out for the season, and she's almost got another double-double," UNC coach Sylvia Hatched said. “I’m just really proud of her and her mentality that she has, twirling in there, working hard." With freshman guard Rebecca Gray out because of a stress ffac like I have six starters, and I feel like Danny is playing really good basketball for us," Williams said. “I had a session with Danny and Deon (Friday), and we talked more about defense than anything else, really." The talk seemed to have paid off. Better defense is something Williams has talked about after several wins this season, and Green said the comments have gotten the team more focused. “The whole team pretty much picked it up in practice, just talk ing and communicating," he said. SEE DEFENSE. PAGE 6 DTH/DAVID ENARSON Senior forward Erlana Larkins drives to the basket during the Tar Heels' 79-70 win at N.C. State. Larkins scored a team-high 22. ture in her right foot, the No. 3 Tar Heels (16-1,3-0 ACC) had a taller lineup than usual for most of the game. UNC exploited its advantage in the post, working the ball down low on almost every possession. LaToya Pringle, Jessica Breland SEE ROAD WIN. PAGE 9 (Thr Sally (Ear Hrrl MONDAY, JANUARY 14, 2008 SPORTS WOMEN'S TENNIS OTH F!IE)SARAH HISER FROM WIRE REPORTS LAS VEGAS North Carolina sophomore Katrina Tsang saw her run in the 2008 Freeman Memorial Tennis Championship fall one match short asTsang lost to No. 51 Amanda Fink of USC, 6-2,2-6,6-1, in Sunday's flight one singles final. Tsang and junior Austin Smith advanced to the flight one doubles final, where they fell to Stanford's Jessica Nguyen and Whitney Deason, 8-2. In an added singles match, junior Laura Reichert fell to No. 22 Whitney McCray of Georgia Tech. FORBES DTH FllE/LAUREN COWART For most North Carolina fans, UNC basketball is priceless. Not for Forbes, because they're in the business of putting a dollar figure on everything. And according to their calculations, UNC's basketball program is the most valuable in the country Using a scientific formla. Forbes allotted UNC a $26 million valua tion. The Tar Heels easily outpaced the second-most valuable program— the University of Kentucky, at 524.9 million. MEN'S GOLF Two University of North Carolina men's golfers posted top-30 finishes at the 2008 Dixie Amateur. Freshman Kevin O'Connell tied for 13th place, while Henry Zaytoun 111, also a fresh man. tied for 28th place at the Jan. 7 event. O’Connell finished nine strokes behind champion David Lingmerth. ONLINE See dailytarheel.com for more coverage of the UNC wrestling team's two matches this weekend. The UNC Swimming and Diving teams won in impressive fashion over Clemson and Rutgers. UNC's Track and Field team opened their season with the Joe Hilton Invitational. THIS WEEK MEN S BASKETBALL at Georgia Tech TIME: 9 pun. LOCATION: Atlanta WOMEN'S BASKETBALL vs. Boston College TIME: 7 pun. LOCATION: Carmichael Auditorium WRESTLING vs. Duke mt 7 p.m. LOCATION: Fetra Gym WOMEN'S TENNIS vs. UNC-Greensboro, vs. Eton TME: 3 p.m„ 7 pm. LOCATION: Cane-Kenheid Tennis Center
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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