University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Record*-Setting Day
January 6, 2004 | Lucas
Dec. 7, 2003
By Adam Lucas
When next year's basketball media guide and record book is released next October, Raymond Felton would be advised to check the section devoted to Carolina's single-game assist mark.
Allegedly, Felton set the mark with his 18 assists in Sunday afternoon's 115-81 victory over George Mason. But as Sean May reviewed one particular play from the second half, you got the feeling that the sophomore big man might be angling for a Roger Maris-style asterisk.
The play in question happened just three minutes into the second half. Following a halftime lecture from Roy Williams on the importance of defensive positioning, the Tar Heels were on their way to turning a 49-47 halftime deficit into a double-digit advantage. Up 58-51, Felton dipped into the lane and fired a bullet pass to May's left.
The sophomore from Latta made a stack of sensational passes against George Mason. This one was not one of them. This one was too hard, too errant, and earmarked for the second row of the risers.
Until May stuck his big paw out--trained endlessly by his father Scott, who used to whip rapid-fire passes at his head when the two worked out--and reeled it in one-handed and softly dropped it in the basket.
Two points, May. Assist, Felton.
"I have no clue how I caught that," a laughing May said. "He threw it and I stuck my arm out...We talked about it after the game. I told him, 'Hey man, that pass was terrible.'"
Without that particular play, Felton is sharing room atop the single-game assist record with Jeff Lebo and Ed Cota.
That's what is remarkable about this particular team. It's not uncommon for a team to have a player with magnetic hands, like May. It's not uncommon for a team to have a player with deft passing skills.
It is uncommon, however, to have them both on the same team. Felton and May are well on their way to becoming one of the most lethal scoring combinations in Carolina history, right up there with Cota to Jamison, Smith to Daugherty, and Black to Worthy. It must be demoralizing to be a Tar Heel opponent and see May set up on the low blocks. He's making nearly 65 percent of his shots this season, and it takes only a sliver of daylight for Felton to slide the ball inside to him.
The 34-point margin of victory obscured some occasionally shaky play in the first half and the continued freshman struggles of Reyshawn Terry, who scored 10 points in eight minutes but also caused Roy Williams to pull out a couple strands of silver hair with his missteps on the defensive end. Even on a play that Terry ended with a two-hand thunder dunk, he'd been out of position just moments before. Terry will be fine eventually, but right now he's got one problem that no Tar Heel has ever figured out how to cure--he's a freshman.
The Winston-Salem native had a tough practice Saturday, during which Williams jokingly said that he had to ask his freshman what day it was just so that Terry would have a chance to answer a query correctly. The good news? Next year, he's going to be a sophomore, and he'll be the wise old veteran trying to dispense some advice to the new rookies.
The Heels also made it through their fifth game with no further injuries--except one. Late in the game, with most of the starters safely on the bench, Roy Williams clapped his hand together to make a point and immediately started wincing and rubbing his hand.
The cause? Well, on a day full of record-setting passes, the head coach decided to hand off something to his 2003-04 Tar Heels--a simple challenge.
"I clap so much that sometimes when I have that big ring on, it makes it bleed," Williams said. "But I like wearing that back-to-back Final Four ring that I got at Kansas. I told these guys it's their responsibility to get me a new one."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
