Heels Hold Off Falcons, 63-52, Advance To Second Round

Thursday, March 18

Denver, Colo.

9:50 PM ET

North Carolina

No. 11 Air Force - NCAA First Round

March 18, 2004 | Men's Basketball

By: UNC Athletic Communications

NCAA First Round - March 18, 2004

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By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer

DENVER (AP) - Roy Williams won his NCAA tournament debut with North Carolina against the school that gave former Tar Heels mentor Dean Smith his first coaching job.

It wasn't easy.

Sean May had 14 points and North Carolina pulled away in the second half to beat scrappy Air Force 63-52 in the first round Thursday night.

"I'm extremely pleased with our team," said Williams, who reached the NCAA tournament 14 straight years with Kansas before taking over at his alma mater this year. "We knew it was going to be a very difficult game."

Smith was an assistant at Air Force from 1955-57 before becoming the winningest coach in NCAA history in his 36 years at North Carolina. But not even the dean of coaching could have predicted how much the Tar Heels would struggle against the undersized Falcons.

North Carolina (19-10), the sixth seed in the Atlanta Regional, had trouble with Air Force's deliberate offense and swarming defense from the start, and didn't get any breathing room until going on an 11-0 run midway through the second half.

The Tar Heels shot just 32 percent in the first half, but went 12-for-22 in the second to win in their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2001.

North Carolina moves on to Saturday's second round against Texas, which has to be relieved after struggling early against Princeton's pace-dragging style in the first game.

"I'm extremely pleased with our team. We knew it was going to be a very difficult game."

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

"I'm kind of glad it's over because that team scares you, how many weapons they have and what they can do to you offensively and defensively," May said.

Air Force (22-7) shot 50 percent in the first half, but went 8:19 without a field goal late in the second period to lose in its first NCAA tournament appearance in 42 years. The Falcons are 0-3 in the NCAA tournament.

"All I talked to my team about all week is winning, winning, winning," Air Force coach Joe Scott said. "That is all they have heard for four days. That is how you know it is such a hollow feeling, because that has been in our guys' heads and in their hearts."

Air Force at least made a game of it against the bigger and faster Tar Heels.

Scott played and coached under Princeton coach Pete Carril, so it was no surprise the game looked very much like the Princeton-Texas contest that proceeded it.

Using their grind-it-out offense and scrambling defense, the Falcons kept it to the slow pace they wanted and held North Carolina under 25 points in the first half.

Air Force had trouble with the powerful May inside - eight points on 4-of-9 shooting - but held the Tar Heels to 32 percent shooting in the first half.

The Falcons didn't have a field goal until A.J. Kuhle hit a layup five minutes in, but that seemed to get them going.

Nick Welch followed with a 3-pointer, Antoine Hood added two more and Air Force shot 9-for-18 to lead 28-23 at halftime.

"We played a solid 20 minutes of basketball and were able to hang with a great team," Air Force's Tim Keller said. "Being able to make it that far and being able to compete, you couldn't ask for much more."

ut just like Princeton, Air Force couldn't match the more athletic team down the stretch.

The Falcons went up 44-38 with just under 13 minutes left on Joel Gerlach's four-point play, but North Carolina answered with an 11-0 run, capped by Raymond Felton's long 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer from three feet behind the NBA line with 10:23 left.

North Carolina slowly pulled away from there, pushing the lead to as many as 12 points.

Roy Williams yells instructions to the floor during the game against Air Force.

"It was very difficult," North Carolina's Jawad Williams said. "They slowed us down and did a great job of controlling the tempo. We couldn't get the shots we were used to getting. We just had to stay tough."

The schools' first meeting ever featured vastly different programs.

North Carolina has one of the most storied programs in the country, with three national titles, 16 Final Four appearances and 82 NCAA tournament wins.

Air Force is at the opposite end, reaching the NCAA tournament for the first time in 42 years - third ever - after its first winning season since 1978.

The Tar Heels have a big front line and like to use their athletic ability to push the pace every chance they get.

The Falcons are small - center Welch is a lanky 6-foot-8 - and try to dictate a slow pace with pressure defense and a patient offense that includes plenty of 3-pointers and backdoor cuts.

Air Force worked its system to near perfection most of the game, but just couldn't keep pace with the Tar Heels down the stretch.

"I thought we did what we do pretty well, but they responded to our style of play," Scott said. "They hung in there well and did what they had to do to win."