University of North Carolina Athletics
On This Day in Carolina History
June 21, 1999 | General
1990 -- Fox Sinks Top-Ranked Sooners
Perfect execution of a last-second play gave Rick Fox a short bank shot and North Carolina a stunning 79-77 victory over top-ranked Oklahoma in an NCAA Tournament second round game at Austin, Tex.
The Tar Heels led the Sooners much of the way in this Midwest Regional showdown. In fact, the Carolina advantage was as much as 10 points in the first half as Fox hit five of six shots from the floor, including four of five from three-point range for 14 points. Pete Chilcutt added 10, going three-of-three from the field and making all four of his foul shots.
However, center William Davis led a late Oklahoma rally and the UNC lead at halftime was just 40-38.
Carolina led by as much as seven points in the second half, but a pair of three-pointers by guard Smokey McCovery helped bring the Sooners back. When Davis hit two free throws with 1:36 to play, Oklahoma had a 74-73 lead.
Fox calmly nailed a three-pointer with 55 seconds on the clock to push the Tar Heels back ahead, 76-74. But, Davis, scored from inside, was fouled and added the free throw as the Sooners regained the lead, 77-76, with 39 seconds on the clock.
Carolina worked for a final shot, but McCovery fouled King Rice with 10 seconds to go. Rice tied the game with his first shot. But, the second rolled off the rim and an Oklahoma player knocked it out-of-bounds.
The Tar Heels called timeout with eight second left to set up a final play. Rice tossed it in to Hubert Davis on the left side of the court. Davis fired a pass to Fox coming off a screen. He went along the right baseline and slipped into the lane for a three-footer to win the game.
The UNC scoring leaders were Fox with 23, Chilcutt with 17, Kevin Madden with 14 and Rice with 12. Carolina shot 53.7 percent from the field, including seven of 10 from three-point territory.
