SaiUi Sar Hwl Heels step on gas, jet past Eagles 30-1 UNC run puts BC away for good BY MIKE EHRUCH ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR For almost 15 minutes Thursday night, Boston College gave North Carolina a game. But then the No. 3 Tar Heels fired up the ignition, switched on the jet burners and blew BC away with a 30-1 run. UNC (17-1, 4-0 ) held the Eagles (14-5, 2-2) scoreless for the final 5:46 of the first half and then continued the spurt inter rupted only by a free throw for about another five minutes. WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BC 59 UNC 87 ONLINE The Tar Heel defense led UNC to the rout. Read more at dailytarheel.com “We started to really put pres sure on the ball, and from that we got deflections and from those deflections, we were getting tran sition buckets," UNC coach Sylvia Hatchell said. The offensive firepower dur ing the run, as well as the rest of the game, started with freshman Cetera DeGraffenreid. The speedy point guard turned every UNC steal or defensive rebound into an instant fast break. She scored a career-high 20 points, the majority of which came off drives to the basket and con tested layups. ‘Coach told me to drive instead of staying outside and not doing anything and passing the ball," DeGraffenreid said. “So I just drove and put the ball up* Tar Heel junior Rashanda McCants was complimentary of DeGraffenreid’s quick strikes to At 18-0, North Carolina in rare company Looks to continue streak against UM BY JESSE BAUMGARTNER SENIOR WRITER With a chaotic 83-82 vic tory against Georgia Tech on Wednesday night in Atlanta, the North Carolina mens basket ball team took a historic step by extending its record to 18-0 on the season. The unbeaten start ranks as the Tar Heels’ best since the 1985-86 season. Before Wednesday’s win, this year’s squad was tied with the THE LOWDOWN ON SATURDAY'S GAME • Men's Basketball Maryland at No. 1 North Carolina Smith Center, 3:30 p.m. Broadcast: ABC (11-7,1-2 ACC) Radio: 1360 WCHL (18-0, 3-0 ACC) HEAD-TO-HEAD the matchup to watch on Saturday will be Maryland's Grwvis Vasquez versus UNC's Ty Back court Lawson. Vasquez has improved his sconng BTHHHyg 1 dramatically this season —16.8 ppg —but he's also prone to turnovers Edge: UNC The Terrapins’ frontcourt tandem of James Gist and Bambale Osby have combined for Frontcourt about 25 points and 14 rebounds per game UNCs Tyler Hansbrough accounts for 21.6 and 10 by himself. Edge: UNC One of UMs top reserves guard Cliff Tucker. has been forced into starting duty since an Bench injury to Eric Hayes That leaves UM a little thinner, and with UNC's Danny Green and Cos., the Tar Heels are deeper Edge: UNC The Tar Heels are coming off of a physical afSMMgfe battle with Ga. Tech, and there is always ilftlittMftjire Intangibles the potential for a hangover. UNC-Ashevilie played them tough after the win at Clemson, * and so should Maryland Edge: UM The Bottom Line —North Carolina 86, Maryland 76 COMPILED BY GRAY CALDWELL THE WAR Starting Tuesday is now: (Formerly STARTING TUESDAY) with Inside the Flame and 9PM Traffic Live - One Night Only! FRIDAY, JAN 18,2008 CAT'S CRADLE Doors 7pm/Show 8:00pm SB/$ 10 www.myspace.com/thewarmusic the hoop. “You can’t guard it," she said. “Anytime she does it, she’s going to get a foul. Real good body con trol. it’s kind of crazy wish I had that" BC defenders were having trouble guarding McCants her self. She used everything from 3-pointers to short put-backs to drop 19 points on the Eagles, including 10 in a row during the UNC burst. Sophomore forward Jessica Breland came off the bench to con tribute 18 points and nine boards, and junior Heather Claytor added 10 points. UNC continued its tradition of utilizing pressure defense to dismantle the opposition. The Tar Heels pressed, trapped and jumped out in the Eagles' passing lanes to force 31 turnovers, which they converted to 25 points on the other end. “You can't, with a team like this, throw the ball away,’ BC coach Cathy Inglese said. “With Carolina you've got to take care of the ball. We threw the ball away, and they just capitalize on that quickly with layups.” Even with senior stars Erlana Larkins and LaToya Pringle held to five and six points, respectively. UNC still netted 48 points in the paint. Just as important, the North Carolina bigs held Boston College freshmen standouts Stefanie Murphy and Carolyn Swords to a combined 15 points. The two stand at 6-foot-4 and 6-foot-6, respec tively. and entered Thursday night averaging more than 32 per contest combined. But even in a lopsided vic- 1997-98 team that reached the Final Four before bowing out to Utah. The 1985-86 squad eventu ally ran its record to 21-0 before stumbling to a 28-6 final record that ended with a loss in the Sweet 16. If the Tar Heels were to beat Maryland and Miami, they would face Boston College at home to tie that record and, with a win there, Florida State on the road to break it DTH/JUUE TURKEWITZ Tar Heel junior Rashanda McCants calls time-out during UNC's 87- 59 thrashing of BC on Thursday night. McCants scored 19 points. tory like the one UNC produced, Hatchell said the performance was not complete. “1 thought we had moments of brilliance out there where we looked really good," she said. “And then we had times where we got just really lethargic and we were just messing around and I didn't like that" The Eagles were unable to capi talize on UNC’s sloppy periods, but the Tar Heels' next opponent might. Next up on the schedule is a visit to top-ranked and undefeated Connecticut, which recently lost 3-point threat Mel Thomas for the rest of the season because of a right knee injury. “We're going to Connecticut next, and we've got to play 40 min utes of good intense basketball." Hatchell said. And from there, it doesn’t get Playing down low The post play was brutal from the opening tip, and Georgia Tech rose to the challenge by using four athletic forwards to give North Carolina trouble at the defensive end of the floor. Jeremis Smith, Gani Lawal and Zack Peacock were the most effec tive of those, combining for 42 points and 24 rebounds for the game while shooting better than 57 percent from the field. North Carolina coach Roy Williams wasn’t happy with his team's lack of help defense down low at times. “I was really mad early in the game because Quentin (Thomas) had a guv under the basket. It was a bigger guy, and he went right past him," lie said after the game. “We had three other guys stand ing there buying a freaking ticket instead of getting involved ... you can’t just stand there and say it’s ~P . £ \j CJtiruac CAaffct DINNER BUFFET i *9.3 5 • ! sliW OFF with your UNC studentK)! i J 35 Chines* has the bett variety of Chinese food around. You can dtoos* from arm 50 hems on our Super Buffet or order from the extanriva menu. Lunch 11am-230pm Friday/Saturday Dinner 4:3opm- 10pm Sunday-Thursday Dinner 4:3opm-9:3opm CLOSED MONDAY [ University Squsre-143 W. Franklin Street-Chjpel Hi-919.9683488 • imdtysearchcomAdu/351 Looking for industrial design? HOUSING FAIR loam-2 PM. Thursday. Feb. 7. 2008 Great Hall, Student Union UNC 87, Boston Cofogs 59 ■RMi Cißm 28 33 m North CotNcm 43 44 R % * * ate TO TO M I R •M4* O 4-7 W 24 I •mm 33 14 M W t I M24M M 0 4 * Mm a 24 M w 1 j 4 M C M M I 1 • Mb n ■* M MO 4 I •mm n AO 00 o 0 o Am 4 l ( a|.B-ni m ffm Ml MM 14 turn OX Ttnm #1) tai Am - S (Tkmc l %mt A MM 4. Matf* X *Mi X An X RMA Nm ftM Wtaß! MM - Msaft iMi IKmi.hml mu Mots MiMaOl Man M a* • ft MW K Vt M t-7 1 1 I FMO a 2-4 3-3 13 0 4 MeCm 27 IMS t-i 14 2 1 aw * 4 oe is x t * OWSrMMmtf A* 14 (M 3 1 * MM a HM M 1 I 0 UM 8 03 00 1-3 4 0 0 MW 22 34 24 13 0 1 t MtMOl 0 2 S (M 4 00 01 00 0 4 0 Mr 3 00 00 OO 10 0 am u 6O 0 6 9 Rmmm-K 41X0 a? fCtott, 34 kkCvn 74 MMM M.WuM 0!) Mw WM -1 (MM MW - 4 Wqk UMIW.4Mw.-XIM4 4.1 Ml MM X WdCm X um UMSM 4M AMI W4-I4 tkCmm o.PiinWi.il XU4M }.M>2Mw4ZMya MMMi>Wi4W*m-1M much easier, with No. 4 Maryland and the rest of the difficult ACC looming in the weeks ahead. “This stretch coming up... these next couple weeks will be tough." Hatchell said. “But it’ll make us better and get us ready because we want to get back to the Final Four and another ACC championship." Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu. not your man." Run, run, run The Yellow Jackets chose to push the pace Wedesday night, which allowed them to put up 73 shots during the entire game and hang with the speedy Tar Heels. “That's arguably the fastest team in the country, and I don’t think they can outrun us," Yellow Jacket coach Paul Hewitt said. UNC junior forward Danny Green wasn’t surprised by the tac tics and thinks the Tar Heels will see more of the same as the confer ence season progresses. “They’re an ACC team, and most ACC teams do run. Most ACC teams are going to push the ball right back at you. And we expect that. We just didn’t get back as best as we could or as (well) as we wanted to.’ Contact the Sports Editor at sports@ unc.edu. FRIDAY. JANUARY 18, 2008 I j Ippgppgßi DTH/EMMA PATTI North Carolina's Thomas Scotton grapples with Duke's Vons Tejada dur ing the Tar Heels' 32-6 victory against the Blue Devils on Thursday night. UNC wallops Duke, evens ACC record BY GABE HIATT SENIOR WRITER The venue changed, but the result stayed the same for the North Carolina wrestling team against Duke on Thursday night. Hosting the Blue Devils in Fetzer Gym because of the women's bas ketball game, UNC (5-3,1-1 ACC) easily recorded a 32-6 victory, their 33rd win in the last 34 meetings between the rival schools. Such dominance against Duke brought raucous cheers from the home crowd, which over flow ed the bleachers to watch, forcing WRESTLING Duke 6 UNC 32 latecomers to stand around the mat in order to catch a glimpse of the action. “The (Carolina) Fever have been fantastic,' coach C.D. Mock said. “They make a big difference." A distinctive cheer greeted team leader Keegan Mueller as his roommate gave the Dallas-native cowboy yelps and veehaws. Mueller kept Duke’s Aaron Glover hogtied. winning his bout 15-1. Coming in ranked No. 12 in the nation. Mueller has lost only three bouts this year. Mock described Mueller's progression as com ing along “just perfectly." and his major decision was one of four North Carolina recorded in its last five bouts. "Keegan right now just reeks of confidence," Mock said. “I’m excit ed about his potential this year and what he can do." Mueller's record proved the abil ity to rise to his potential, and he is watching his young teammates do the same. Do You Need a Job in the Spring? Become a suit sales associate •8 15 commission |>t i sale • A free* tailor-maeir suit • Choose yonr own hours • Be part of a startup company • Sell cxchrsiveh looth(*i students Please contact Ben .lames at 727-4 { ) 2 7K 5 7 ifyou an inten steel. BergmannJames Tailor-made: suits at affordable prices www.berßtnannjjunes.c om Renting to students for over 20 years! Property information is online at www.TarHeelßemtals.com Four freshmen competed Thursday, going 3-1 in their bouts. Freshmen Kyle Kiss posted a major decision, while fellow rookie Nick Tenpcnny dropped his bout by one point. UNC's Nick Stabile and Thomas Scotton. both a year removed from their redshirt seasons, dominated Duke sophomores and contributed a combined seven points to the team. “Our young guys are a breath of fresh air," Mueiler said. “They believe in themselves. They don’t think that anyone is better than them. I love it." Mock shares Mueller's enthu siasm for the next generation of UNC wrestlers, stressing that their attitude is an essential element for the team. “They are just a good hard nosed tough bunch," Mock said. “That's been kind of the key in our program." Still, the key Thursday was not the freshmen. It was not even Mueller or No. 18 heavyweight Justin Dobies. The performance of the night went to Vincent Ramirez, who was the only wTestler to contribute six points to his team with a pin of Duke freshman Mike Bell in 57 seconds. Mock said that pins will need to come more often for this team to be as successful as possible. He also stressed the importance of doing well in a much-improved ACC. ‘lt feels good to get a pin when ever you can in college." Ramirez said. “They don't come very often." Contact the Sports Editor at sports@ unc.edu. 7