University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC Takes On Georgetown
November 23, 1999 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 1999
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP)--After an impressive debut, senior point guard Ed Cota and freshman shooting guard Joseph Forte try to duplicate their success as fourth-ranked North Carolina plays Georgetown in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.
Cota, who missed a portion of preseason practice time due to a violation of team rules, showed no rust in North Carolina's 82-65 victory over Southern California in the first round. He finished with 15 points and 10 assists, hitting 6-of-7 shots from the field and taking control of the game in the second half.
"Ed's done that for four years and that's why he'll be our all-time assist leader," North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge said. "He's done that many, many times and that's why I wouldn't trade him for any other point guard in the country."
More surprising for the Tar Heels (1-0) was the performance of Forte, who played at perennial powerhouse DeMatha High School in Maryland. He finished with 24 points on 9-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-4 from 3-point range.
"I was just thrilled to be starting because not many freshmen get to do that at North Carolina," Forte said. "To play like that tops it all."
Center Brendan Haywood made all seven of his shots from the field and finished with 15 points for the Tar Heels, who shot 65 percent from the field and 6-of-11 from 3-point range. The only starter not to play well for North Carolina was forward Jason Capel, who played 24 minutes and scored only two points. Kris Lang and Brian Bersticker combined for 11 points off the bench.
Georgetown (2-0) reached the semifinals by pounding Memphis, 71-55. Unlike their season opener against Morgan State, when the Hoyas nearly blew all of a 13-point lead, Craig Esherick's squad had no such letdown in the second half.
Kevin Braswell scored 17 points for Georgetown, which scored the final seven points of the first half and the first nine of the final 20 minutes to break open a close game. Nat Burton added 13 for the Hoyas, who had 10 of their 11 players score and led by as many as 25 points.
The schools have split six all-time meetings, with Georgetown recording a 93-81 win in the 1989-90 season. The Tar Heels defeated the Hoyas for the 1982 NCAA tournament title when another impressive freshman guard named Michael Jordan hit the game-winning jumper.
The winner of this game will play either No. 6 Florida or No. 22 Purdue in the championship game on Wednesday.
