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1946--Hook Dillon Leads Carolina Past Buckeyes
NEW YORK-- John "Hook" Dillon scored 16 points and Jim Jordan added 12 as North Carolina toppled Ohio State in overtime, 60-57, in the NCAA Eastern Finals at Madison Square Garden.

The victory sent the Tar Heels into the national championship game against Oklahoma A&M, winner of the Western Finals.

The battle with the Buckeyes started slowly with neither team scoring a point for five minutes. In fact, Ohio State didn't score a field goal for over 10 minutes. Still the game was close until an 11-point UNC run pushed the Tar Heels ahead, 17-6. But, by intermission, the Buckeyes had a 20-19 advantage.

With Jack Underman scoring inside, Ohio State took a 34-27 lead early in the second half. When Bones McKinney fouled out midway through the final period, the Buckeyes seemed in complete control.

However, Coach Ben Carnevale's pressing defense began to pay off and Carolina climbed back into the game. Bob Paxton's long jumper with 20 seconds left finally tied the game, 54-54, and forced overtime.

Don Anderson and Dillon got the key baskets as Carolina outscored the Buckeyes, 6-3, in the extra period.

Despite his foul problems McKinney finished with nine points and Paxton added eight. Underman had 23 for Ohio State.

March 22

1957--Michigan State Falls in Triple Overtime
KANSAS CITY, Mo.-- North Carolina ran its record to 31-0 with a 74-70 triple-overtime victory over Michigan State in the NCAA semi-finals at Municipal Auditorium.

Lennie Rosenbluth scored 31 points and made three key plays in the third extra period to help secure the victory and send the Tar Heels into the national championship game. He opened the third overtime with a steal and layup to give Carolina a 68-66 lead. Then after Jack Quiggle tied the score for the Spartans, Rosenbluth put UNC ahead to stay with a long jumper.

Tommy Kearns added a pair of free throws for a 72-68 advantage. Another Rosenbluth steal led to a layup for Bob Young with just 1:33 left to finally wrap up the win. Bob Cunningham, who did a great defensive job on MSU All-America Johnny Green, added 19 points and Pete Brennan had 14 for Carolina. Quiggle led the Spartans with 20, while Green had only 11.

The game was tied, 58-58, at the end of regulation with neither team scoring in the final 1:57 of play. Then in the first overtime, a layup by Quiggle gave Michigan State a 64-62 lead with 55 seconds left. Green had a chance to win the game with 11 seconds to go, but missed a free throw opportunity. Brennan's short jumper with three seconds left forced a second overtime.

Rosenbluth's jumper with 3:46 on the clock accounted for Carolina's only points of the second period. That almost was enough, but a tip-in by Green with 55 seconds remaining finally tied the score again.

That set the stage for Rosenbluth's final heroics.

March 21

1981--Wood Sparks Win Over Wildcats
SALT LAKE CITY-- North Carolina outscored Kansas State, 12-2, over the last 3:40 of the first half and went on to defeat the Wildcats, 82-68, in the finals of the NCAA Tournament's West Regional at the Huntsman Center.

That late first half spurt gave the Tar Heels a 42-29 halftime lead. Kansas State would never get closer than nine points in the second half.

Al Wood, a 6-6 forward who was best known for his great shooting touch, was the big Tar Heel star. He finished with 21 points, hitting 10 of 17 shots from the floor, but also grabbed 17 rebounds. Sam Perkins added 16 points and 11 rebounds, while James Worthy had 15 points and five assists.

With Carolina leading 30-27, it was Wood who started his team's late first half run with a three-point play. Jim Braddock hit from the top of the key, Matt Doherty scored on an offensive rebound and Wood drilled a long jumper. Perkins completed this stretch by taking a pass from Worthy for a dunk and adding a free throw when he was fouled on the play.

Rolando Blackman had 21 points for Kansas State and got 15 of those in the second half. It was Blackman, forward Ed Nealy and reserve Fred Barton who got the Wildcats to within 71-62 with 3:04 in the game.

But, Jimmy Black and Worthy each hit a pair of free throws and Worthy had a steal and dunk in the next minute to put the Wildcats away.

March 20

1993--A defensive Struggle With Princeton
PISCATAWAY, N.J.-- Third-ranked North Carolina ran its lacrosse record to 6-0 by toppling unbeaten and second-ranked Princeton, 7-5, in a defensive struggle at Rutgers' Yurcak Field.

Princeton (now 2-1) had won 12 straight games, the nation's longest unbeaten streak, dating back to a 1992 loss at Carolina.

The Tar Heels won this game by controlling the midfield, causing numerous Tiger turnovers and having a 46-29 advantage in ground balls. Carolina goalkeeper Billy Daye finished with 17 saves.

With Steve Speers, Jason Wade, Ousmane Green, Ryan Wade and John Sanders scoring goals, the Tar Heels built a 5-1 lead in the third quarter. However, three straight Princeton goals closed the Carolina margin to 5-4.

The Tigers would have tied the game except for a sensational save on an open net by Carolina defenseman Chuck Breschi.

With just 22 seconds left in the period, Princeton goalie Scott Bacigalupo was called for cross-checking and sent to the penalty box. John Webster then scored 11 seconds into the fourth quarter off a freshman replacement. Speers added his second goal of the day at the 7:35 mark to finish the scoring.

Carolina also won 13 of 16 faceoffs.

1982--Walsh Wins NCAA 50 Backstroke
GAINESVILLE, Fla.--Sue Walsh completed a sweep of the backstroke races by winning the 50-yard event in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Florida.

Her winning time was 25.64 on the third day of the NCAA competition. Earlier in the Championships she won the 100 and 200 backstrokes.

Walsh also placed third in the 100 individual medley on the final day of the event.

Sparked by her performances, Carolina finished third in the battle for the team title behind Florida and Stanford.

March 19

1982--Walsh Continues Sweep of Backstroke Events
GAINESVILLE, Fla.-- North Carolina's Sue Walsh won her second backstroke title in as many days at the first NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships at the University of Florida.

Walsh swam the 100 backstroke in 54.81 seconds, setting National Collegiate, American and U.S. Open records in the event. Earlier in the day she had helped the Tar Heels to a second-place finish in the 200 free relay with a 22.49 split, the fastest of any UNC competitor in the event. Carolina also had a national champion in the 50 butterfly as Barb Harris set an Atlantic Coast Conference record of 24.82 in her first-place finish.

Walsh, a sophomore from Hamburg, N.Y., had swept to the 200 backstroke title the previous day in a time of 1:59.47 and set a National Collegiate record with a 25.59 split in leading off Carolina's second-place 200 medley relay team.

She is scheduled to swim the 50 backstroke and the 200 individual medley on today's final day of the competition.

March 18

1978--Smith Blanks Duke on Four-Hitter
CHAPE HILL-- Junior righthander Blaine Smith fired a four-hit shutout, leading North Carolina to a 2-0 victory over Duke in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams at Cary Boshamer Stadium.

Smith, 3-1, struck out 12 Blue Devils in outdueling Duke's Larry Brooks. Brooks entered the game in the first inning when starting pitcher Ted Gardner had to leave because of a sore arm.

First baseman Jim Rouse scored what proved to be the winning run in the second inning. He led off the inning by beating out an infield hit. He promptly stole second base and moved to third on a fly ball. Mark McKinney's sacrifice fly then brought him home.

Carolina added an insurance run in the seventh when outfielder Greg Robinson scored an unearned run.

The victory gave the Tar Heels a 15-5 record, while Duke fell to 2-6.

March 17

1990-- Fox Sinks Top-Ranked Sooners
AUSTIN, Texas-- Perfect execution of a last-second play gave Rick Fox a short bank shot and North Carolina a stunning 79-77 victory over top-ranked Oklahoma in an NCAA Tournament second-round game at the Erwin Special Events Center.

The Tar Heels led the Sooners much of the way in this Midwest Regional showdown. In fact, the Carolina advantage was as much as 10 points in the first half as Fox hit five of six shots from the floor, including four of five from three-point range for 14 points. Pete Chilcutt added 10, going three-of-three from the field and making all four of his foul shots.

However, center William Davis led a late Oklahoma rally and the Tar Heel lead at halftime was just 40-38.

Carolina led by as much as seven points in the second half, but a pair of three-pointers by guard Smokey McCovery helped bring the Sooners back. When Davis hit two free throws with 1:36 to play, Oklahoma had a 74-73 lead.

Fox then nailed a three-pointer with 55 seconds on the clock to push the Tar Heels back ahead, 76-74. But, Davis, scored from inside, was fouled and added the free throw as the Sooners regained the lead, 77-76, with 39 seconds to play.

Carolina worked for a final shot, but McCovery fouled King Rice with 10 seconds to go. Rice tied the game with his first shot. But, the second rolled off the rim and an Oklahoma player knocked it out-of-bounds.

The Tar Heels called timeout with eight seconds left to set up a final play. Rice tossed it in to Hubert Davis on the left side. Davis fired a pass to Fox coming off a screen. He went along the right baseline and slipped into the lane for a three-footer to win the game.

The Carolina scoring leaders were Fox with 23, Chilcutt with 17, Kevin Madden with 14 and Rice with 12. Carolina shot 53.7 percent from the field, including seven of 10 from three-point territory.

University of North Carolina Athletics

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