University of North Carolina Athletics
Road To Sweet 16 Not Easy For UNC Or Tennessee
March 20, 2000 | Men's Basketball
March 20, 2000
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By BEN WALKER
AP Sports Writer
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - A turned ankle for Khalid El-Amin helped set up this rare twist: Tennessee and North Carolina playing for the first time in more than a half-century.
With El-Amin hobbled, defending champion Connecticut looked lost Sunday and was knocked out of the NCAA tournament by Tennessee 65-51 in the second round of the South Regional.
"I know that I bring the energy and demeanor to this team," El-Amin said after the Huskies' lowest-scoring game of the season. "And without me, we weren't able to go offensively like we are normally able to."
Earlier in the afternoon, North Carolina toppled top-seeded Stanford 60-53 behind freshman Joseph Forte's 17 points.
The eighth-seeded Tar Heels, whose selection to the 64-team field was widely criticized, recorded their 30th straight 20-win season.
"Maybe now we're pushing the right buttons," coach Bill Guthridge said.
On Friday night, North Carolina will play Tennessee in the regional semifinals at Austin, Texas. They have not met since Jan. 31, 1949, when the Volunteers won 84-56 for their only victory in the six-game series.
Tennessee (26-6) played its way into the round of 16 for the first time. Losses by Stanford, No. 2 Cincinnati and No. 3 Ohio State left the fourth-seeded Vols as the highest remaining seed in the South.
"Obviously, this is not the same team without Khalid," Tennessee coach Jerry Green said of Connecticut. "But our team still played pretty well, probably as good as we played all year."
Connecticut (25-10) missed the regional semifinals after reaching them seven times in 10 years.
El-Amin, who sprained his right ankle in Friday night's win over Utah State, played only 13 minutes. He took just two shots and was limited to three points.
Often grimacing, the Huskies' leading scorer and floor leader could not contribute much more than cheerleading.
"We just couldn't get into an offensive flow," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "We're so dependent on Khalid's energy on offense that we couldn't get anything established. But we do depend on Khalid offensively, probably too much."
Tony Harris took advantage of El-Amin's absence to freely roam the court. He shot 4-for-11, but drew fouls and wound up with 18 points.
Harris and El-Amin are serious rivals dating back to their days of AAU basketball and a near-fight at a summer camp. But this matchup between junior guards was one-sided.
"I feel sorry for him because he got hurt at a big time for them," Harris said. "But he has a big heart and he will bounce back."
El-Amin's lone basket, a long 3-pointer with 13:38 to play, closed fifth-seeded Connecticut to 38-34. Jon Higgins responded with a 3 for Tennessee, sparking an 8-0 run that finished El-Amin and the Huskies.
"I tried to will us, and the next time down on defense, I think reality hit me," El-Amin said. "I wasn't able to get around a screen and my man hit another 3."
North Carolina (20-13) got 10 assists, seven points and seven rebounds from Ed Cota.
Stanford (27-4) was ranked No. 1 for part of the season, but the combination of Cota and Forte, plus a little Tar Heels tradition, was too much.
"We always feel like we're in the game. We just have to play North Carolina ball," Cota said.
Forte hit a pair of 3-pointers and sparked a 10-0 run for a 53-47 lead. He punctuated his performance with a game-ending dunk.
"I was struggling most of the game. Coach told me I was shooting like I was scared and to not shoot at all if I'm going to shoot scared," Forte said.
North Carolina improved to 9-0 overall against Stanford. David Moseley scored 17 points for the Cardinal, but emotional leader Mark Madsen had only five.
Casey Jacobsen also had only five points and was outplayed in the freshman matchup with Forte. Jacobsen missed a pair of 3-point tries near the end, and finished 2-for-12 from the floor.
"This team was special and it tears my heart out that I will never get the chance to play with Madsen, Moseley and the rest of the seniors again," Jacobsen said.
