University of North Carolina Athletics
On this Date With The Tar Heels...
December 16, 2001 | General
December 15
1956--Gamecocks Fall in Overtime
COLUMBIA, S.C.--In what would be a season of tight finishes, North Carolina edged South Carolina, 90-86, in overtime at Carolina Field House.
With just over a minute to go in the extra period, Tommy Kearns was fouled on a driving layup. He added the free throw as the Tar Heels took the lead for good.
Moments later Tony Radovich also was fouled as he scored. He hit the free throw for a three-point play that sealed the win.
Carolina had led almost the entire game. But, a steal and layup by the Gamecocks' Ray Pericola with seven seconds left in regulation tied the score, 76-76, forcing overtime.
Kearns led the Tar Heel scoring with 29 points. Pete Brennan had 22 and Lennie Rosenbluth contributed 18. Bob Cunningham was also in double figures with 10.
Grady Wallace, who would lead the nation in scoring, had 35 for South Carolina.
1979--Worthy, O'Koren Lead Win Over Detroit
CHAPEL HILL--James Worthy scored 24 points and Mike O'Koren had 21 in leading North Carolina to a 90-72 victory over Detroit at Carmichael Auditorium.
Carolina led just 39-37 at halftime and still had only a 78-70 advantage with 2:47 left. But, the Tar Heels outscored the Titans, 12-2, the rest of the way for the 18-point win.
Worthy had six points in that final stretch drive as UNC pulled away. First, Dave Colescott hit a pair of free throws and Worthy also hit both ends of a one-and-one opportunity. After Joe Kopicki converted two free throws for Detroit, Worthy scored on a give-and-go from Rich Yonakor with 57 seconds left. He was fouled on that play and added the free throw. He then hit another foul shot in the final nine seconds.
The lead changed hands several times in the first half with neither team leading by more than five points. However, Carolina led throughout the second half as Worthy, O'Koren and Al Wood sparked an early run in the final 20 minutes.
Carolina shot a sizzling 64.4 percent from the field as Worthy was nine for 13 and O'Koren was nine for 14. Wood made seven of nine shots and Jeff Wolf connected on four of five. Wood finished with 14 points and Colescott had 10.
Worthy grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds.
December 14
1955--Tar Heels Crush Fifth-Ranked Alabama, 99-77
CHAPEL HILL--Lennie Rosenbluth scored 29 points as North Carolina romped past fifth-ranked Alabama, 99-77, at Woollen Gymnasium.
Joe Quigg and Jerry Vayda added 18 points each as the Tar Heel frontline dominated the game.
This was a complete team effort with five UNC players in double figures. Pete Brennan scored 13 and Tommy Kearns had 12. In addition, the Carolina defense limited Alabama All-America center Jerry Harper to just seven points.
The Tar Heels led 49-42 at halftime as Rosenbluth scored 17 points in the first 20 minutes. Brennan and Kearns then sparked an early second-half outburst as Carolina broke the game open.
The Tar Heels made 36 of 66 field goal attempts, a percentage of 54.5. Carolina also converted 27 of 41 free throws.
The Crimson Tide shot only 36.6 percent from the floor, hitting 26 of 71 shots. Alabama made 25 of 36 free throws in a foul-plagued game. Two Tide players fouled out and two others ended the game with four fouls. Quigg fouled out for Carolina and three other players finished the game with four personals.
The Tar Heels out-rebounded Alabama, 55-42. Rosenbluth had a game-high 14 and Quigg added 10.
1964--Lewis and Cunningham Pace Win Over Vanderbilt
GREENSBORO, N.C.--Bob Lewis scored 31 points and Billy Cunningham had 30 as North Carolina edged Vanderbilt, 84-78, at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Trailing, 40-38, at the half, the Tar Heels erupted behind Lewis for 46 points in the final 20 minutes.
Held to just nine points in the first half, Lewis scored 22 after intermission. Cunningham had kept Carolina close with a great first-half performance, scoring 18 points.
Forward Bob Grace scored 20 points in the opening half for the Commodores, but managed just six in the second period. The Tar Heels did a great defensive job on Vanderbilt's All-America center Clyde Lee, who finished with just 16 points.
Vanderbilt beat the Tar Heels on the backboards, out-rebounding UNC, 54-46. Grace led the way there with 17.
But, the UNC defense held the Commodores to just 41.5 percent shooting. Carolina, meanwhile, shot 59.1 percent in the second half in mounting its comeback.
Cunningham made 11 of 20 shots from the floor and eight of 10 free throws. He also pulled down 14 rebounds. Lewis was eight of 15 from the field, but got to the foul line 18 times and converted 15.
Ray Respess was also in double figures for Carolina with 11.
December 13
1997--Shammond Shoots Down Tigers
CHAPEL HILL--Shammond Williams scored 17 points as North Carolina outlasted methodical Princeton, 50-42, at the Smith Center.
Williams scored 11 points in the second half as the Tar Heels finally began to build a small lead in the final four minutes of play.
The Tigers, using their patented style of clock-burning passes and cuts to the basket, led almost the entire first half. The game was tied only twice--15-15 on a dunk off an offensive rebound by Brendan Haywood and 21-21 at intermission. Carolina scored the final four points of the half to tie the game. Williams drove the lane at 2:05 and Ed Cota fed Vince Carter with a halfcourt pass for a slam dunk with 33 seconds left.
The Tar Heels shot 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes and out-rebounded Princeton, 18-8. But Carolina could get off only 20 shots as the Tigers slowed the action with their deliberate style.
A layup by Cota tied the game, 35-35, with 8:11 left in the second half and Princeton never led again. Another layup by Williams pushed the lead to four, but the Tigers were still within striking distance.
Then with 3:24 on the clock, Carter pushed the lead to six with a dunk off another Cota pass. Williams followed with a layup at the 2:38 mark as the lead was stretched to eight.
Carolina iced the game as Williams, Cota ands Antawn Jamison each hit a pair of free throws in the final minute of play.
Other than Williams, the only UNC players in double figures were Carter with 11 and Cota with 10. Jamison finished with a game-high nine rebounds.
1967--Carolina Swimmers Sink Navy
ANNAPOLIS, Md.--North Carolina won nine of the 13 events in defeating Navy, 64-49, in a swimming and diving meet at the Academy.
Frank McElroy and All-America Jim Edwards each won two individual races for the Tar Heels, while Robert Carney won both the one-meter and three-meter diving.
Edwards won both the 100 and 200 freestyles. McElroy easily out-distanced all competition in the 500 and 1,000 freestyles.
In addition to Carney's wins in the diving competition, Carolina got victories from Phil Riker in the 200 butterfly and Fred Dannemann in the 200 backstroke.
Dannemann and Riker, both All-America performers, also swam on the Tar Heels' winning 400-medley relay team.
December 12
1959--Shaffer Powers Carolina Past Wildcats
RALEIGH, N.C.--Lee Shaffer scored 24 points as North Carolina jumped to an early lead and defeated Kansas State, 68-52, at Reynolds Coliseum.
This game came on the second day of two doubleheaders that saw the Tar Heels and N.C. State play the Wildcats and Kansas.
Shaffer hit nine of 18 shots from the floor and added six of seven free throws for his 24 points. He also grabbed nine rebounds.
Carolina jumped to a 36-26 halftime lead and never trailed after that in running its record to 3-0.
Harvey Salz and Ray Stanley were also in double figures for UNC with 17 and 10 points respectively. Stanley had a game-high 12 rebounds.
Wally Frank scored 12 points and Cedric Price had 10 as the only KSU players in double figures. Price topped the Wildcats in rebounds with 11.
Bill Guthridge came off the Kansas State bench to finish with six points in 22 minutes of playing time.
1987--Tar Heel Women Edge Gamecocks
CHAPEL HILL--Kathy Wilson scored 20 points and pulled won 13 rebounds, leading North Carolina to a 77-73 women's basketball victory over South Carolina at Carmichael Auditorium.
Wilson was one of five Tar Heel players in double figures. Tanya Lamb finished with 15, Marsha Matthews had 12, Merlaine Oden scored 11 and Tia Poindexter added 10.
Carolina needed all that scoring to overcome a 32-point performance for USC's Schonna Banner.
This game was won at the free throw line where the Tar Heels converted 20 of 25 opportunities. South Carolina made just five of nine free throws.
December 11
1982--Carolina Tops Santa Clara Behind Jordan, Daugherty
GREENSBORO, N.C.--Michael Jordan scored 22 points and Brad Daugherty added 17 as North Carolina defeated Santa Clara, 79-56, at the Greensboro Coliseum.
With Sam Perkins slowed by foul trouble, Daugherty came off the bench to hit six of seven shots from the floor and five of seven free throws to give the Tar Heels scoring punch inside. Perkins, despite fouling out, still finished with nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Carolina led 32-23 at the half with Jordan scoring 12 points in the first 20 minutes. That nine-point spread was as close as Santa Clara could get in the second half.
Jordan made 11 of 19 field goal attempts in 26 minutes of action for his 22 points.
Curtis Hunter was the only other Carolina player in double figures, coming off the bench to score 11.
The Tar Heels shot 50.9 percent from the field. The UNC defense held the Broncos to 33.3 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers.
1971--Tar Heels Crush VPI by 33
CHAPEL HILL--North Carolina built a 17-point lead in the first half and went on to a 93-60 victory over Virginia Tech at Carmichael Auditorium.
Bobby Jones scored 14 points and Dennis Wuycik had 12 as the Tar Heels took a 51-34 halftime lead. Carolina's pressure defense forced 16 VPI turnovers in the first 20 minutes to help break the game open early.
Wuycik finished with 20 points, going eight for 12 from the floor. Jones had 18, hitting eight of his 11 field goal attempts.
Also in double figures for the Tar Heels were Robert McAdoo with 14 and George Karl with 10.
Jones grabbed 11 rebounds as UNC dominated the backboards, 59-41. Constantly harassed by the Carolina defense, the Gobblers had 33 turnovers in the game.
Virginia Tech forward Alan Bristow was the game's top scorer with 31 points.
December 10
1990--Wildcats Fall in First Trip to Chapel Hill
CHAPEL HILL--After trailing the entire second half, North Carolina rallied in the closing moments to defeat Kentucky, 84-81, in the Wildcats first trip to Chapel Hill.
Although the Kentucky and Tar Heels had played on 20 previous occasions, the games had always been in Lexington or on a neutral court. Adolph Rupp and his successors had always refused to play on UNC's homecourt.
Neither team had more than a four-point advantage in the first 15 minutes of the game. But, Kentucky then outscored Carolina, 14-5, in the last 4:34 to take a 41-33 halftime lead. The Tar Heels shot just 28.1 percent from the floor and committed 19 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.
The Wildcats built a 12-point lead with12:52 in the game at 63-51 and still led 74-66 with 6:25 remaining.
But, Rick Fox fed George Lynch for a layup and then scored himself on a driving layup to cut that margin to four. Hubert Davis followed with a free throw. After Sean Woods scored for Kentucky, Pete Chilcutt scored on an offensive rebound and Davis canned a 10-foot jumper to slice the UNC deficit to one point.
Aided by John Pelphrey's three-point play, the Wildcats pushed back ahead by four at 81-77 with 1:38 left.
However, Fox drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key at the 1:25 mark. After a wild scramble for a loose ball, Fox pitched it ahead to Chilcutt for an uncontested dunk. King Rice then added a pair of free throws with one second on the clock for final three-point margin.
Carolina came back from its poor first-half shooting to hit 20 of 30 field goal attempts after intermission. UNC finished with a 45-32 rebounding advantage.
Chilcutt, Fox and Rice all had 14 points for the Tar Heels, while Davis and Lynch each had 13. Pelphrey led Kentucky with 24 and Jamal Mashburn finished with 15.
1984--Pam Leake's Overtime Effort Downs Temple
CHAPEL HILL--Pam Leake scored eight points in overtime as North Carolina defeated Temple, 77-67 at Carmichael Auditorium.
After regulation play ended in a 65-65 tie, Stacey Dean gave the Owls an early 67-65 lead in the extra period. But, Temple never scored again and Carolina reeled off 12 straight points. Leake had eight of those.
Dawn Royster, the leading Tar Heel scorer and rebounder for the year, again led the team in both categories with 23 points and 14 rebounds. She also blocked five shots.
Kathy Wilson had 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Pam Hammond handed out 10 assists.
Leake came off the bench to hit eight of 15 shots from the floor, make two steals and contribute four assists.
Carolina had a field goal percentage of 47.8 for the game and connected on 11 of 12 foul shots. The Tar Heels shot 59.3 percent from the floor in the second half as they rallied from a 32-27 halftime deficit.
December 9
1972--Vidnovic Leads Late TD Drive to Beat Florida
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--Quarterback Nick Vidnovic rallied North Carolina from a 24-20 deficit with a late touchdown drive as the Tar Heels defeated Florida, 28-24, at Gator Bowl Stadium.
The Gators had gone ahead with 6:42 left on a 19-yard pass from Dave Bowden to Willie Jackson in a game which saw four lead changes.
Florida then tried to run out the clock after recovering a UNC fumble. However, defensive tackle Robbi Vandenbroek made three straight stops on Gator running plays, forcing a punt.
Phil Lamm returned the kick 27 yards to the Florida 41 with 3:39 to play.
After two runs gained only three yards, Vidnovic threw an 11-yard pass to Jimmy Jerome for a first down at the 27. The Tar Heel quarterback stayed in the air, throwing to fullback Dick Oliver for 10 yards and to Jerome for 11 more.
That got Carolina to the six-yard line and tailback Sammy Johnson scored from there on a first-down run. Vidnovic then tossed a two-point conversion pass to Ted Leverenz for a four-point lead with only 1:14 on the clock.
Two long passes got Florida back to the UNC nine-yard line in the final minute. But, four straight passes then fell incomplete as Carolina completed a 10-1 regular season.
In addition to the winning touchdown run, Johnson also scored on a pair of five-yard runs. Carolina's other touchdown came on a 14-yard pass from Vidnovic to Jerome.
1983-- Winde, Walsh and Pless Star Against State
CHAPEL HILL--Polly Winde won three individual events, while Sue Walsh and Amy Pless captured two each as North Carolina defeated N.C. State, 93-46, at Bowman Gray Pool.
Walsh and Pless also swam on two first-place relay teams.
Winde set a school and Bowman Gray Pool record in the 1,000-yard freestyle with her time of 9:49.55. Her times of 2:20.39 in the 200 breastroke and 4:23.71 in the 400 individual medley were NCAA qualifying marks. She also set a pool record in her 200 breastroke race.
Walsh finished first in the 200 freestyle in 1:52.69 and qualified for the NCAA Championships with a winning time of 2:04.17. Walsh led off UNC's 200 medley relay and swam the second leg on the 400 freestyle relay.
Pless won the 50 freestyle in 24.01 and the 100 freestle in 52.32. She anchored the medley relay and led off the freestyle relay.
Betsy Mitchell qualified for the NCAA Championships with a winning time of 56.89 in the 100 backstroke and swam on both relay teams. Jenny Strickland was the Tar Heels' other individual NCAA qualifier with her victory in the 100 breastroke.
In addition, the freestyle relay team of Pless, Walsh, Mitchell and Sue Scott had an NCAA qualifying time.
