University of North Carolina Athletics
On This Date With The Tar Heels...
January 8, 2002 | General
January 5
1977-Big Second Half Dooms Tigers
CHAPEL HILL-North Carolina scored 52 points in the second half and raced to a 91-63 victory Clemson at Carmichael Auditorium.
Carolina had just a 37-33 lead at the half as the Tar Heels struggled with 39.4 percent shooting in the opening period. However, Carolina hit 52.9 percent of its shots after intermission and held the Tigers to 22.9 percent shooting to post the 28-point win.
Phil Ford led the Tar Heel attack with 20 points, five assists and five steals. Walter Davis followed with 16 points and 11 rebounds. He also had three assists and three steals.
Tommy LaGarde added 14 points and Mike O'Koren had 12. O'Koren also had four assists and five steals. John Kuester also came up with five steals as Carolina forced the Tigers into 30 turnovers.
Kuester finished with nine points, while Dudley Bradley and Tom Zaliagiris came off the bench to score six each.
Derrick Johnson led the Clemson scoring with 19 points, while Tree Rollins had 15 points and 14 rebounds.
January 4
1964-Cunningham Sparks Win Over Irish
GREENSBORO, N.C.-Billy Cunningham scored 24 points and Ray Respess added 20 as North Carolina toppled Notre Dame, 78-68, at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Sparked by the play of Cunningham, Respess and forward Charlie Shaffer, the Tar Heels built a 47-23 halftime lead. The Irish could never recover in the second half.
Cunningham hit 10 of 23 shots from the floor and four of seven free throws. He also pulled down 18 rebounds.
Respess was nine of 18 from the field and made both of his free throws for his 20 points.
Shaffer added 15 points. Mike Cooke was also in double figures with 11.
Larry Sheffield and Larry Jesewitz were a two-man show for Notre Dame. Sheffield scored 31 points and grabbed 19 rebounds, while Jesewitz contributed 13 points and 14 rebounds. They were the only Irish players in double figures.
Carolina's pressing and halfcourt defenses forced Notre dame into 27.7 percent shooting. That included an 18.1 percent mark in the opening half as the Tar Heels opened their 16-point lead.
January 3
1968-Clark, Miller and Scott Too Much for Deacs
CHAPEL HILL-Rusty Clark, Charlie Scott and Larry Miller all scored at least 20 points as North Carolina defeated Wake Forest, 74-62, at Carmichael Auditorium.
Clark hit six of nine shots from the floor and made 10 of 12 free throws for 23 points. Scott was 10 of 16 from the field and connected on each of his two free throw opportunities, finishing with 22 points. Miller got 12 of his points at the foul line as he was regularly fouled on his spectacular drives to the basket.
Miller and Scott also had four assists each.
Carolina led just 35-30 at the half before slowly pulling away in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Jerry Montgomery led the Wake Forest scoring with 19 points, while Dickie Walker finished with 18.
January 2
1992-Carolina Bombs Purdue Behind Davis
CHAPEL HILL-Hubert Davis scored 20 points, leading North Carolina to a 78-50 rout of Purdue at the Smith Center.
Davis hit seven of nine shots from the floor, including four of five three-pointers. He also handed out four assists. Davis had 12 of his points in the deciding first half as the Tar Heels took a 38-23 lead at intermission.
Purdue never got closer than 15 points in the second half. Carolina led by 29 at one time, before finishing with its 28-point win.
George Lynch added 15 points for the Tar Heels, Derrick Phelps had 13 and Kevin Salvadori scored 10. Lynch
also grabbed 10 rebounds, while Phelps had four assists and three steals.
Carolina shot 54.2 percent from the floor, including 62.5 percent in the first half.
The Tar Heels had just a two-point lead with 2:57 to go in the first 20 minutes, but scored the last 13 points of the period to build its 15-point lead.
Lynch started this decisive run, taking a great pass from Henrik Rodl for a layup. Rodl followed that with a steal and dunk. Davis converted a pair of free throws and then drilled a three-pointer with 40 seconds left. Lynch added a free throw and Davis closed the half with 13 seconds to go, hitting another three-pointer from deep in the left corner.
Tar Heel Coach Dean Smith played reserves much of the final half as no UNC player logged more than 30 minutes of playing time.
January 1
1998-Tar Heels Blitz Hokies in Gator Bowl
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.-Chris Keldorf threw for 290 yards and three scores and North Carolina's defense and special teams added touchdowns as the Tar Heels rolled over Virginia Tech, 42-3, in the Gator Bowl.
The most lop-sided win in UNC bowl history left Carolina in fourth place in the final national polls.
This game was the first for Carl Torbush as the Carolina head coach. He replaced Mack Brown who had resigned following the season to take the head coaching job at Texas.
Keldorf completed 17 of 28 passes, including touchdown throws of 62 and 14 yards to Octavus Barnes and four yards to reserve fullback Jamie Carrick.
The Tar Heels dominated all phases of the game, finishing with 427 yards of total offense and limiting VPI to just 185. There were a number of offensive stars for the Tar Heels. Barnes had three catches for 89 yards and two TDs, tailback Jonathon Linton ran for 68 yards and a touchdown and tight end Alge Crumpler had five receptions for 77 yards.
Defensively, the standouts were linebacker Brian Simmons (eight tackles, two hits behind the line of scrimmage and one sack), end Greg Ellis (who scored a touchdown after recovering a fumble he had forced and also recorded two sacks) and tackle Vonnie Holliday (eight tackles, three for losses).
Josh McGee opened the scoring with a 29-yard field goal on UNC's first possession. On the second play of the Tar Heels' next series, Keldorf connected with Barnes on a 62-yard scoring strike down the left sideline. Carolina added another touchdown in the opening quarter when Quinton Savage blocked a Virginia Tech punt and Dre' Bly recovered it at the six and raced into the end zone.
Just one minute and 10 seconds after Bly's TD, Ellis fell on another loose ball in the Hokie end zone for a 22-0 lead at halftime.
Linton made that 28-0 with a one-yard run early in the third period. That came after Brian Schmitz threw 28 yards to Simmons on a fake punt to give Carolina a first down at the VPI 12.
VPI finally got on the scoreboard with a third quarter field goal, but Carolina added another pair of touchdowns in the fourth period on passes from Keldorf to Barnes and Carrick.
December 31
1980-Amos Lawrence Leads Bluebonnet Win Over Texas
HOUSTON-Amos Lawrence and Kelvin Bryant ran for first-half touchdowns as North Carolina defeated Texas, 16-7, in the Bluebonnet Bowl at The Astrodome.
Lawrence ran 59 yards for a first period touchdown and Bryant scored on a one-yard plunge in the second quarter as Carolina built a 13-7 lead.
That proved to be more than enough as the Tar Heel defense dominated play in the second half.
Carolina opened the scoring on its first possession. Starting on their own 20, the Tar Heels drove to the UNC 41 on two short runs by Lawrence and a 16-yard pass from Rod Elkins to Mike Chatham. From there Lawrence went straight up the middle, cut back to the right sideline behind a Shelton Robinson block and went 59 yards for the score. A two-point conversion failed.
Texas came back to take a 7-6 lead by going 70 yards in seven plays with Mike Luck scoring from the one. Herkie Walls, the Southwest Conference sprint champion, set this up with a 42-yard run on a reverse. He would have scored except for an amazing play by Lawrence Taylor who raced from the other side of the field to catch him from behind.
Steve Streater set up the next UNC touchdown by first backing the Longhorns up deep in their own territory with a 63-yard punt and then intercepting a Texas pass.
On first down at the Texas 33, Carolina ran its own reverse with Mark Smith getting to the two-yard line. Bryant scored from there for a 13-7 halftime lead.
Texas never crossed midfield again. Taylor, Lee Shaffer, Donnell Thompson Harry Stanback, Calvin Daniels and Darrell Nicholson all made big plays as the Tar Heels controlled the line of scrimmage. The Longhorns managed just two first downs and were held to minus eight yards rushing and 36 yards of total offense in the final two quarters.
Carolina continued to move the ball, although three promising drives were stalled by penalties and another ended on the Texas one-yard line. Jeff Hayes did add a 31-yard field goal to complete the scoring.
Lawrence finished the game with 104 yards on 18 carries and was named the game's top offensive performer.
Bryant added 82 yards on 15 attempts and Elkins completed 11 of 18 passes for 121 yards.
Streater, who recovered a fumble in addition to his interception, was selected the game's top defensive player.
December 30
1995-Leon Johnson Gets 195 Yards in Carquest Bowl
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.-Leon Johnson ran for 195 yards and Mike Thomas threw a pair of toiuchdown passes as North Carolina defeated Arkansas, 20-10 in the Carquest Bowl at Joe Robbie Stadium.
Johnson's 195 yards were a school record for a bowl game, topping the 148 set by Kelvin Bryant against the Razorbacks in the 1981 Gator Bowl.
Johnson had just 23 yards on eight carries in the first half, but exploded for 172 yards on 21 attempts after intermission.
The Tar Heel defense, led by All-America tackle Marcus Jones, recorded five sacks, had two interceptions and knocked down four other passes.
Offensively, Carolina rolled up over 400 yards, gaining 242 on the ground and 177 in the air.
Arkansas led 7-0 in this game, driving 78 yards on its first possession. Barry Lunney threw 25 yards to Anthony Lucas for the score.
The Tar Heels tied the game on an 18-yard pass from Thomas to Darrin Ashford. This was set up by passes to Octavus Barnes and Ashford.
Arkansas threatened twice in the second quarter, but a sack by Kivuusama Mays and a blocked field goal attempt by Greg Ellis killed those threats.
A field goal by Todd Latourette gave the Razorbacks an early third-quarter lead. But, Carolina took the lead for good on its next possession. Thomas threw 19 yards to Na Brown to get the drive started the at UNC 45-yard line. Three plays later Thomas threw 12 yards to fullback Chris Watson. Johnson got another first down on an 11-yard run to the Arkansas 30. On third-and-eight from the 28, Thomas ran an option to the right side and pitched to Johnson who ran untouched for the touchdown.
After a Razorback punt, Thomas fired over the middle to L.C. Stevens who stiff-armed one tackler and outran the secondary for an 87-yard scoring play.
1986-Wrestlers Take Midlands Championship
EVENSTON, Ill.-Al Palacio and Rob Koll won individual titles as North Carolina won the team crown at the Midlands Championships at Northwestern's Welch-Ryan Arena.
The fifth-ranked Tar Heels edged the Sunkist Wrestling Club by a narrow 1.75 points for the title, finishing with 57.25.
Palacio, the nation's top-ranked wrestler at 118 pounds, won that weight class with an 18-3 decision over Jack Griffin of Northwestern. That improved his record to 18-0 for the season.
Koll, ranked as the nation's top performer at 158 pounds, defeated Johnny Johnson of the Gopher Wrestling Club,
5-0, for the Midlands crown. That made his record 19-0 for the year.
Carolina had two fifth-place finishers-Chip McArdle at 126 and Lenny Bernstein at 142.
