University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Basketball Faces Maryland Tonight
January 10, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2001
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Maryland Terrapins
Date & Time: Wednesday, January 10, 2001, 7 p.m.
Site: Cole Fieldhouse, College Park, Md. (14,500)
Records: Carolina 11-2 overall, 2-0 ACC, Maryland 11-3 overall, 2-0 ACC
Rankings: Carolina 9th Associated Press, 11th ESPN/USA Today, Maryland 14th Associated Press, 16th ESPN/USA Today
Series Record vs. Maryland: Tar Heels lead, 105-48 overall, 28-17 at Cole Fieldhouse
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Radio Network, a division of Learfield Communications. Woody Durham (play-by-play) and Mick Mixon (color) provide the call. A live broadcast also is
available on the University of North Carolina's official athletic website, TarHeelBlue.com
Television: ESPN (Mike Patrick, Dick Vitale)
ACC Unbeatens Meet in College Park
Another night of Atlantic Coast Conference basketball, another Top 20 battle as the No. 9/11 Tar Heels travel to College Park to meet the No. 14/16 Maryland Terrapins. Both teams are 2-0
in the ACC. Carolina defeated Georgia Tech, 84-70, in Atlanta and beat fourth-ranked Wake Forest, 70-69, in the Smith Center.
Maryland has opened league play with wins at Clemson and at Cole Fieldhouse against the Yellow Jackets.
The Tar Heels have won eight consecutive games since losing back-to-back contests against Michigan State and Kentucky. The eight-game win streak is Carolina's longest since opening the 1998-99 season with eight straight wins. A win at Maryland would give Carolina its longest win streak since the 1997-98 team won nine in a row at mid-season.
The Tar Heels play host to Marquette on Saturday, January 13, at 1 p.m. That is Carolina's final regular-season, non-ACC game this year. UNC is 9-2 thus far against non-conference teams this season.
Carolina and the Terps
The Tar Heels lead the series, 105-48, although the series is tied 5-5 in the last 10 games. Carolina has an outstanding 28-17 record in Cole Fieldhouse. The Terrapins have won the last
three games played in College Park. The Tar Heels last won at Cole, 93-81, on February 22, 1997. The following season, UNC came to Cole with a 17-0 record and No. 1 national
ranking and was defeated, 89-83 in overtime.
Carolina-Maryland has generally been one of the highest scoring rivalries in the ACC. In fact, Carolina has scored 70 or more points in 37 of the last 38 games against Maryland beginning with the 1985-86 season. The one exception to that came in an 81-64 loss to the Terps two seasons ago. The winning team has scored at least 75 points in each of the last 29 contests. The last time a team won this matchup without scoring 75 points was a 74-64 Carolina win in the 1988 ACC Tournament.
January 27, 2000 - Carolina 75, Maryland 63
Brendan Haywood equalled his then-career scoring high with 24 points and added seven rebounds and two blocked shots to lead Carolina to a 75-63 win over the Terps in the Smith
Center. The game had been scheduled for the previous evening, but a record snowfall hit North Carolina several days before. More than 18 inches of snow and ice in the Triangle forced the
one-night postponement. The win broke a four-game losing streak for the Tar Heels and prevented UNC's first five-game losing streak since 1952. Maryland established an 11-point lead
with 6:27 left in the opening half and led, 41-34, at halftime. However, in the second half, Carolina shot 50 percent from the floor and held the Terps to 7 of 27 shots from the floor, a
percentage of .259. The Tar Heels scored the first six points after intermission and took the lead for the first time in the half and for the rest of the game on a three-pointer by Max Owens
with 13:19 to play. In fact, Maryland led 50-45 with 15:59 remaining, but the Tar Heels exploded on a 14-0 run to take a nine-point lead. The Terps got to within two points with 5:34 to
play, but Julius Peppers and Haywood scored on a second-chance baskets to extend the lead back to six. Jason Capel had 11 points, 12 rebounds and five assists and Kris Lang ovecame
the effects of a stomach virus to add 13 points and six boards.
February 26, 2000 - Maryland 81, Carolina 73
Jospeh Forte scored 26 points and Brendan Haywood grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds, but it was not enough to overcome a balanced Maryland attack as the Terps handed the Tar Heels
an 81-73 setback at Cole Fieldhouse. The teams traded baskets early, but the Terps broke a 27-27 with a 10-0 run over the final 2:36 of the first half and led 37-27 at the break. The Tar
Heels committed 12 of their 17 turnovers in the first half and shot just 42.3 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Both teams shot exceptionally well and turned the ball over
just five times apiece in the second half. Carolina shot 55.9 percent in the second half (19 of 34), and the Terps answered by shooting 53.6 percent from the floor (15 of 28). However,
Carolina was just 1 of 12 from three-point range in the half, while the Terps made five of eight three-point attempts. Forte, who attended high school at nearby DeMatha, made 11 of 16
field goal attempts, blocked two shots and had two steals. He was joined in double figures by Ed Cota (12 points, six assists and only two turnovers), and Jason Capel (10 points, six
rebounds). Juan Dixon led Maryland with 23 points, four assists, two blocks and two steals. Dixon made five of nine three-pointers. Terence Morris had 16 points and Mike Mardesich
came off the bench for 10 points.
Smith Center Voted No. 1 Arena in College Basketball
In a recently published survey of Division I head coaches, The Sporting News ranked the Dean E. Smith Center as the No. 1 Game Venue in all of college basketball. The Smith Center
beat out Kansas' Allen Fieldhouse and Madison Square Garden. The Sporting News wrote that "packing more than 21,000 people who bleed Tar Heel blue into the Smith Center is a sure
thing for creating that warm glow that college sports fans flock to in the dead of winter."
Carolina also was selected by the coaches to have the best NBA Alumni Association of former players, the best two-sport athlete in the country in defensive end/forward Julius Peppers and the best rivalry in the country with Duke. Carolina's uniforms were voted the second-best in the country behind Cincinnati and UNC was tied with Duke for the third-best on-campus visit behind Pepperdine and UCLA.
Haywood Scores Game-Winner in 70-69 Triumph over No. 4 Wake Forest
Senior center Brendan Haywood scored 24 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead Carolina to a 70-69 win over No. 4 ranked and previously undefeated Wake
Forest. Haywood picked up a loose ball in the lane and scored off the glass with 3.3 seconds to play to give the Tar Heels the victory. Haywood's basket was the fourth lead change in the
final 1:22 and gave Carolina the win after Darius Songalia's 30-footer missed at the buzzer.
oth teams played well defensively as the teams combined to shoot less than 40 percent from the floor. Carolina shot 39.7 percent and Wake Forest, which came into the game fourth in the nation in shooting at 51.9 percent, made just 26 of 70 shots for 37.1 percent. It was the Deacons' lowest percentage of the season.
Joseph Forte had 15 points, three assists, two blocks and two steals, including a huge steal and layup to give Carolina a 68-67 lead with 37 seconds to play. Ronald Curry had seven assists (matching his career high) and just two turnovers in 35 minutes. He missed his first five field goal attempts, but drilled a three-pointer with 4:30 remaining to give Carolina a 62-59 advantage, its first lead in nearly nine minutes.
One of Curry's assists was an alleyoop pass to Julius Peppers, who slammed home a dunk with 8:19 to play to tie the game at 55 and send the crowd into near hysteria. The play was selected as CNN's Play of the Day. Peppers finished with five points, six rebounds and an assist, Kris Lang added eight points and nine rebounds, Jason Capel had seven assists and Max Owens had seven points.
The Deacons led 27-18 with 6:10 to play in the first half, but the Tar Heels ended the half on a 19-7 run to lead by three. Capel and Forte hit consecutive three-pointers and Haywood scored six points in a row to give Carolina the lead heading into the break. Neither team led by more than five points in the second half. Craig Dawson gave Wake Forest a 67-66 lead with 1:22 to play, but Forte's steal and layup with 37 seconds left put UNC back on top. Dawson scored again with 17 seconds to play to put Wake back on top. With six seconds to play, Capel drove and was blocked by Josh Shoemaker, but the ball bounced to straight Haywood and he scored off glass for the lead and the win.
The win was Carolina 16th in 17 games over the Deacons in the Smith Center.
Haywood Bounces Back with Big Night
Brendan Haywood scored 24 points in the win over Wake Forest. That was four more points than he combined to score in Carolina's previous four games. However, in those four games,
all of which were UNC wins, Haywood had 32 rebounds and played exceptional post defense. He helped limit UCLA's Dan Gadzuric and Georgia Tech's Alvin Jones to a combined 18
points on 5 of 22 shooting from the floor. Haywood had been to the free throw line 18 times in the previous four games, but made just four. Against the Demon Deacons, he was 9 for 13
from the field and made six of eight from the free throw line. The Wake Forest game followed his first scoreless game since his freshman season.
The double-double was the 18th of his career.
Curry (and Carolina) Taking Care of the Ball
Sophomore point guard Ronald Curry hit a clutch three-pointer late in the win over No. 4 Wake Forest, but it was his passing and running the offense that had people complimenting him
after the game. Curry matched his career-high with seven assists and committed only two turnovers in 35 minutes of action in the 70-69 win. He had six assists and only one turnover in 18
second-half minutes.
In his last three games, Curry has played 101 minutes and committed five turnovers.
As a team, the Tar Heels are taking better care of the ball, especially in the second half. They had just six turnovers in the second half of the 64-60 win over the College of Charleston, just two second-half turnovers at Georgia Tech and committed only three second-half turnovers against the Deacons.
Forte's Numbers Continue to Climb
Sophomore guard Joseph Forte is having an outstanding season. Forte is scoring 20.1 points per game, grabbing 5.2 rebounds, shooting 47.0 percent from the floor and 80.6 percent from
the free throw line and has an assist-turnover margin of 46-33. Plus, he is playing well defensively and gets better almost daily in that aspect of the game.
He was the MVP of the NABC Classic and the Hardee's Tournament of Champions, was ESPN's National Player of the Week after the NABC Classic and the ACC Player of the Week after he torched UCLA for 29 points.
Forte has scored 20 or more points in seven of the 13 games (he had nine 20-point outings in 36 games last year), including five of the last seven games. Since an eight-point effort against Miami (which Matt Doherty called his best overall game as Forte had seven assists, six rebounds and three steals), Forte has erupted for 23 points against both Texas A&M and Buffalo, 29 at UCLA, 16 versus UMass, 29 against College of Charlestion, 20 at Georgia Tech and 15 vs. Wake Forest. In that eight-game stretch, Forte is 58 for 114 from the field, a percentage of .509.
Forte's scoring is up this year from 16.7 to 20.1, his field goal percentage is up from .459 to .470, his free throw shooting is up from .752 to .806 and his assists have increased nearly one a game from 2.6 to 3.5 per game.
He is second in the ACC in scoring, eighth in free throw percentage, 14th in field goal percentage and fourth in steals.
Carolina Receives Fourth Straight ACC award
Joseph Forte was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Week on January 2 following his MVP performance in wins over College of Charleston and Massachusetts in the
Hardee's Tounament of Champions. It was the fourth straight week a Carolina player had won the award. Brendan Haywood (Miami), Jason Capel (Buffalo) and Forte (UCLA) had been
previous winners for the Tar Heels.
This was the first time Carolina has had three different players earn ACC Player of the Week honors in consecutive weeks since Serge Zwikker, Antawn Jamison and Shammond Williams were named in February and March 1997.
Forte Earns Another MVP Honor
Sophomore guard Joseph Forte was named the Most Valuable Player of the Hardee's Tournament of Champions played December 29-30 in Charlotte, N.C. He scored 16 points in
Carolina's 91-60 win over Massachusetts and had a game-high 29 points in the championship game win over the College of Charleston.
Forte was named the MVP of the Maui Classic and the NCAA South Regional as a freshman. Earlier this season he was named the MVP of the NABC Classic in Chapel Hill.
"Forte is a sensational player," John Kresse, College of Charleston's head coach, said after the tournament. "He is very opportunistic. I would pay admission to see him play. He's a ballerina. He makes the game look easy. He's so smooth, he's poetry in motion. He has a mid-range game and a go to the hoop game."
Capel Third Alltime at UNC
Junior guard Jason Capel is third alltime at Carolina in free throw shooting at 83.7 percent. He trails only guards Shammond Williams and Jeff Lebo among UNC's best free throw
shooters. This year, Capel is sixth in the ACC in free throw percentage at .829. He was second in the ACC in free throw percentage in each of his first two seasons.
He has made 20 of 22 free throws in the last five contests. He did not have a free throw attempt against Wake Forest, only the second time this year he did not have a single attempt. He was nine for nine against UCLA and seven for seven at Georgia Tech.
Owens Making Big Contributions
Senior guard Max Owens has played well in UNC's last four wins over Massachusetts, College of Charleston, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest.
He had 11 points in 12 minutes against UMass, added another 11 points in a then-season-high 21-minute stint against Charleston and had 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in a season-high 25 minutes in Atlanta. Against the Deacons, Owens had seven points, including a second-half three-pointer, and played good perimeter defense.
The Macon, Ga., native had three assists, two steals, and most noteworthy, only one turnover in 33 minutes of action against UMass and Charleston. Owens played the final 8:02 against the Cougars and scored seven points in the last 5:03.
Owens scored seven first-half points and added 10 in the second half of UNC's win over Georgia Tech. His basket and free throw gave Carolina the lead at 52-51, an advantage it would not give up the rest of the game.
Defense Limiting Good Looks
Carolina held Wake Forest to 37.1 percent shooting from the floor in its 70-69 win. That was the Deacon's lowest shooting performance of the season.
The Tar Heels have played solid team defense over the last eight games, coinciding with Carolina's eight-game win streak. Over that span, the opponents have made just 34.8 percent of its shots from the floor. Miami shot just 23.4 percent (a Smith Center low), Texas A&M hit 37.3 percent, Buffalo made 44.8 percent, UCLA shot 33.8 percent, Massachusetts made only 30 percent, Charleston shot 45.3 percent, Georgia Tech shot 32.8 percent and Wake Forest shot 37.1 percent.
The last eight opponents have made a combined 177 of 508 shots from the floor.
Only three teams - Michigan State, Kentucky and Charleston - have shot better than 45 percent against the Tar Heels. Kentucky shot a season-high 50.7 percent in its win over UNC and the Spartans made 46.6 percent from the floor in their win at East Lansing, Mich. Charleston led the Tar Heels by a point at the half and had the game tied with less than a minute to play before Carolina pulled out the victory.
The Tar Heels held the Cougars to 41.7 percent shooting from the floor in the second half. In the 84-70 win at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets went 7 of 30 in the second half, a percentage of .233.
For the season, Carolina is third in the ACC in field goal percentage defense at .382 behind Wake Forest (.362) and Georgia Tech (.380).
An ACC First
Earlier this season, Brendan Haywood and Jason Capel became the only two players in ACC history to record triple-doubles for the same team in the same season. Haywood had 18
points, 14 rebounds and 10 blocks against Miami. Capel had 16 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists agianst Buffalo.
Haywood's and Capel's triple-doubles are the 17th and 18th official ones in ACC history.
Clemson's Sharone Wright, Maryland's Derrick Lewis and Virginia's Ralph Sampson each had two triple-doubles in the same year.
Prior to Capel, the last ACC player to record a triple-double in points, rebounds and assists was Florida State's Bob Sura, who turned the trick against NC State in 1995.
Career Charts
Brendan Haywood is first alltime at Carolina in field goal percentage at .649, is second in blocked shots with 223 and is in 39th place in scoring with 1,172 points. Haywood moved past
Pete Chilcutt (1,150) and Matt Doherty (1,165) with his 24-point outing against Wake Forest. Jerry Vayda, who scored 1,187 points from 1952-56, is 38th alltime at Carolina.
Jason Capel is third in UNC history in free throw percentage at .837. He went nine for nine from the line at UCLA and seven for seven at Georgia Tech. Over the last five games, he is 20 for 22 from the stripe.
On the Glass
Carolina is out-rebounding its opponents by 4.5 per game. However, over the last eight games, all UNC wins, the Tar Heels have 71 more rebounds than the opponents. Carolina has
out-rebounded its opponents by at least 11 rebounds in five of those eight games.
The Tar Heels out-rebounded Miami by 17, Buffalo by 11, UCLA by 11, Charleston by 18 and Georgia Tech by 13.
Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang are ranked No.5 and No. 8 in the ACC in rebounding, respectively. Haywood is second in the ACC in offensive rebounds at 3.2 per game. Lang is eighth in offensive rebounds at 2.5 per game.
As a team, Carolina leads the ACC in rebounding with 41.7 per game and is fourth in rebound margin.
Healthy Lang is Playing Like an All-Star
Kris Lang was outstanding in the win at Georgia Tech as he scored 18 points, grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds and blocked two shots. Plus, he played great defense, especially against
Tech center Alvin Jones, helping limit Jones to 3 of 12 shooting from the floor. It was his fifth career double-double.
Lang is second on the team in scoring at 14.3 points per game and in field goal percentage at .568. He has converted 84 of 148 attempts from the floor in the first 13 contests.
Lang has made more than half his field goal attempts in 10 of the 13 games this year. He made at least half his shots in the first eight games before going 3 for 7 at UCLA. That was the longest such streak in his career.
He is fourth in the ACC in field goal percentage at .568, eighth in rebounding and is 14th in the ACC in scoring. He and Duke's Carlos Boozer (13th at 14.3 ppg) are the highest scoring players in the league without a three-point field goal.
Lang equalled his career scoring high when he netted 22 points in UNC's 95-74 win over Buffalo. Just four games earlier, Lang scored a career-high 22 points on 11 of 16 shooting in the 77-64 loss at Michigan State. Lang previously had scored 21 points as a freshman against both Georgia and Florida State.
The 6-11 junior followed had 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting against Kentucky and 17 points on 7 of 11 shooting against Miami. He added 10 rebounds against the Hurricanes, one off his career high, for his fourth career double-double.
Tar Heels in the Rankings
Carolina is ranked No. 9 in the nation by The Associated Press and 13th by the ESPN/USA Today poll. The Tar Heels are one of five ACC teams currently ranked in the Top 25 and one of
four in the AP Top 10.
The No. 9 ranking is Carolina's highest since its was ranked No. 6 before losses to Michigan State and Kentucky.
UNC was No. 6 in the country in the preseason AP poll. This is the 16th consecutive season the Tar Heels were ranked in the Top 20 or Top 25 in the preseason AP poll. The last time UNC was not ranked to open the year was 1984-85, but the Tar Heels joined at No. 19 in the second week and remained ranked the rest of the year. This is the 27th time in the last 35 years that the Tar Heels have been ranked in the Top 10 in the country in the preseason Associated Press poll.
UNC has been ranked in the preseason Top 10 17 times in the last 20 years. The only exceptions were 1984-85 (not ranked), 1995-96 (ranked No. 20 after Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace left early for the NBA), and 1998-99 (ranked No. 11 after Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter left early for the NBA).
Carolina's average preseason ranking in the AP poll in the last 20 years is No. 6.
