University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina Versus Texas AP Preview
March 19, 2004 | Men's Basketball
March 19, 2004
No. 6 North Carolina (19-10)
vs. No. 3 Texas (24-7).
REGIONAL: Atlanta, Second Round.
TIME: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. EST.
SITE: Pepsi Center; Denver, Co.
North Carolina and Texas will both need to be sharper when they meet in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The sixth-seeded Tar Heels pulled out a 63-52 victory over Air Force on Thursday, giving coach Roy Williams his first tournament win with North Carolina and a 15-0 career record in the first round.
"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," said Tar Heels center Sean May, who scored 14 points.
North Carolina 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 game since 2001.
"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."
North Carolina enters the game in search of its 25th appearance in the regional semifinals. A victory over Texas also would mark the 47th season with 20 or more wins for the Tar Heels, who already have an NCAA record 15 Final Four appearances and seven championships.
The third-seeded Longhorns, meanwhile, are still looking for their first championship.
Texas is playing for its third straight trip to the regional semis and seventh time overall. Texas lost to eventual champion Syracuse in the Final Four last year.
On Thursday, the Longhorns relied on their 3-point shooting to rally against Princeton for a 66-49 win. The Longhorns shot a season-best 73.3 percent from behind the arc.
"When you make 11 out of 15 3-pointers, you're going to win a lot of basketball games," Texas coach Rick Barnes said.
Trailing 27-22 just a minute into the second half, Texas mounted a 24-6 run to take control, hitting its first four 3-point shots of the half. Senior guard rendan Mouton also aided the big run, scoring 18 of his 23 points after halftime.
It was the third time in four tournament games in which Mouton scored 20 or more points. Mouton and fellow seniors Royal Ivey, Brian Boddicker and James Thomas set a school record for most tournament games played (10) by a senior class.
"We set some very hard screens and were getting great looks," Mouton said. "This team is capable of knocking down 3-point shots. We were taking them and they were falling, and once they started falling, coach said to keep doing it."
North Carolina leads the all-time series 2-1.
PROBABLE STARTERS:
North Carolina - F Rashard McCants (19.7 ppg, 4.6 rpg), F Jawad Williams (12.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), C May (15.4 ppg, 9.9 rpg), G Melvin Scott (10.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg), G Raymond Felton (11.6 ppg, 7.1 apg).
Texas - Brad Buckman (5.8 ppg, 4.7 rpg), C Jason Klotz (7.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg), G Kenton Paulino (4.8 ppg, 1.9 apg), G Mouton (13.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg), G Ivey (9.2 ppg, 4.2 apg).
HOW THEY GOT HERE:
North Carolina - At-large berth.
Texas - At-large berth.
ALL-TIME TOURNAMENT RECORD:
North Carolina - 82-35, 36 years.
Texas - 24-24, 22 years.
