University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
Ohio
Tar Heels Drop Non-Conference Game To Ohio, 86-78
February 20, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Feb 20, 2002
By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - The Ohio Bobcats got 23 points from Steve Esterkamp and 20 points and nine rebounds from Brandon Hunter and shot 63 percent in the second half.
The result was a 86-78 victory Wednesday night as the Bobcats joined a list of schools from mid-major conferences that have made the Tar Heels look less than ordinary this season.
"We didn't seem to be emotionally into it for the first 32 minutes," North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said. "For what reason, I have no idea. Only the guys know why.
"Our defense stunk," Doherty added. "When we finally got into it we were too far back. Our team can't afford to come out that way. They fought real hard for 40 minutes and we did not."
Ohio got an emotional lift hours before the game when coach Tim O'Shea arranged for former UNC coach Dean Smith to visit his team during its shootaround.
"If we went to UCLA I would certainly try to see if John Wooden would say hello to my team," O'Shea said. "I felt it was a nice gesture on Coach Smith's part to take time to say hello to our guys. But he told us that he was going to root real hard for North Carolina."
The visit impressed the Ohio players and made them think of the history of hoops along Tobacco Road heading into the game.
"It meant a lot," Esterkamp said. "I've always wanted to meet him since I was a little kid. That was something very special."
North Carolina was far from special for most of this night. The Tar Heels (7-17) scored 95 points against Florida State on Sunday, but couldn't string together their first winning streak since late December.
Meanwhile, the Bobcats (16-8), one of the better teams in the Mid-American Conference, used a zone most of the night just like Hampton and Davidson did in early season shockers over the once powerful program from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"This is not a typical North Carolina team," O'Shea said. "But from the perspective of an Ohio or a Mid-American Conference team, it doesn't matter what kind of year North Carolina is having. A win over North Carolina is something special."
Ohio led by four points at halftime, then reeled off 10 straight points and hit seven of its first eight shots to quickly send the Tar Heels behind by double digits.
At one point during Ohio's 20-8 run to begin the half, Esterkamp scored nine straight points on three drives and a 3-pointer.
Esterkamp's fifth straight basket of the half, a driving layup by Zach Kiekow and two free throws from Sonny Johnson put the Bobcats up by 17 with 10:39 left.
"We came out and made shots," said Esterkamp, who had scored a combined 31 points in his last five games before going 9-for-12 against the Tar Heels. "The last few games I've been shooting it pretty badly. Having a wide open look to start the half felt pretty good and that got me started taking it to the hole."
The margin reached 18 before North Carolina went on a 21-6 run to pull to 73-70 with 2:08 left.
"I felt like I was on the Titanic and we were about to go down," O'Shea said. "We were about as close to collapse as you can get."
ut Patrick Flomo slammed home a dunk and Jaivon Harris added a driving layup 36 seconds later to help take the crowd out of the game. The Bobcats then went 9-of-10 from the foul line over the final 50 seconds to seal it.
"We stuck together. We didn't let that break us at the end and we got it done," Hunter said.
Melvin Scott led North Carolina with 17 points.
The loss dropped the Tar Heels to 5-9 at the Smith Center this season.
"It's hard when you play Duke, Maryland and N.C. State to get up emotionally high to play an Ohio," O'Shea said. "That's just the way it is. But with that said, I think anybody who watched the game on television or attended it knows that Ohio's got a quality basketball team."
