University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Louisville
Tar Heels Hold off Louisville
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
December 17, 1998
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Max Owens got a rare chance to contribute, and he made the most of his opportunity.
Ademola Okulaja had a career-high 23 points and 15 rebounds, and Owens sparked a key second-half run as No. 7 North Carolina held off Louisville 77-72 Thursday night.
Owens, who saw limited action in North Carolina's first 11 games, scored all 10 of his points in the second half to help the Tar Heels (11-1) repel a Louisville surge built on pressure defense and timely 3-point shooting.
"Really, I can just motivate myself," Owens said. "I think I'm just that mentally tough. Whatever they need me to do, I just try to go out and do."
Three successive 3-pointers helped the Cardinals (2-2) tie the game at 51 with 12:21 to play. Owens broke the tie with a tap-in, and after Alex Sanders scored inside for Louisville, Owens got a layup with 11:25 to play, giving North Carolina a 55-53 advantage.
"I was just waiting for him to bust out and show everybody that he can play," Okulaja said. "He's finally adjusting to the system and playing. I hope it's not a one-time affair, but he will do that on a constant basis."
The Tar Heels went on a 12-2 run and appeared to have the game put away. Then North Carolina went cold at the free-throw line, and Louisville made its last push.
As the Tar Heels missed eight of their next 10 free throws, Louisville twice cut Carolina's lead to two, the last time on Marques Maybin's layup with 3.8 seconds to play. Maybin was fouled on the play and intentionally missed the free throw, but the Cardinals lost the ball out of bounds.
Maybin then committed a flagrant foul on Owens, who hit a free throw to seal Carolina's 56th straight non-conference victory at the Smith Center.
"Max Owens had his best game as a North Carolina basketball player," coach ill Guthridge said. "Max has been getting better and better in practice and in the games, and I think he's going to continue to get better."
The Tar Heels won the game at the foul line, where they outscored Louisville by 30 points. North Carolina was 37-for-54 from the line, while the Cardinals were 7-for-11.
Cameron Murray led Louisville with 17 points.
Louisville, which entered the game as the nation's top shooting team at 56 percent, missed its first seven shots and 19 of its first 22. North Carolina, meanwhile, built a 23-9 lead on Terrence Newby's basket with 6:53 left in the half.
"I felt one of the real keys to having a chance to beat this team would be ... a good shooting night so we'd get a lot of opportunities to press," Louisville coach Denny Crum said. "But we shot the ball so poorly. Our shot selection in the first half in particular was poor. Consequently, we didn't get enough pressing opportunities to take advantage of our quickness."
With a rally built on forced turnovers, the Cardinals drew to 25-19 with a 10-2 run. Sanders scored six points in that burst and Kevin Smiley ended it with a dunk off a steal on an inbounds pass with 4:23 left before the break.
North Carolina hit six of eight free throws after that to take a 31-24 halftime lead.
By TOM FOREMAN Jr.
AP Sports Writer
