University of North Carolina Athletics
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No. 3 Texas - NCAA Second Round
Tar Heels Fall To Texas In NCAA Second Round, 78-75
March 20, 2004 | Men's Basketball
March 20, 2004
By JOHN MARSHALL
AP Sports Writer
DENVER (AP) - North Carolina coach Roy Williams was worried about Texas' big front line and deep bench.
Seems he knew what he was talking about.
Royal Ivey had 17 points and 11 Texas players scored, lifting the Longhorns into the NCAA tournament's second weekend for the third straight year with a 78-75 win over the Tar Heels Saturday night.
"It's a situation I would like," Williams said. "In the past, I have had teams that had deep benches and could put a lot of people out there. It is nice to be in a situation where you can play people and not worry about fouls and not worry about stamina as much."
North Carolina (19-11) has the history - three NCAA titles and 15 Final Fours - but Texas (25-7) had the experience advantage in this one.
The Longhorns made it to the Final Four last year and have nine upperclassmen, while most of North Carolina's players were in high school the last time the Tar Heels made the tournament in 2001.
The Longhorns pushed the pace and pounded the ball inside when they could, dipping into its deep talent pool to wear down the Tar Heels. Texas finished with 36 points in the paint and its reserves outscored North Carolina's 34-7.
The Longhorns advanced to the Atlanta Regional semifinals against Xavier or Mississippi State.
"Our players tonight were taking themselves out," said Texas coach Rick arnes, who won for just the second time in 11 tries against North Carolina. "I told our coaches that if we've got guys taking themselves out at that pace, I knew (the Tar Heels) had to be a little bit tired."
He was right.
North Carolina held Brandon Mouton to 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting, but couldn't slow the wave after wave of Longhorns that kept coming at them. Rashad McCants kept the Heels close with his 27 points, but missed his final five shots, including a leaner at the buzzer.
McCants and Jawad Williams (17 points) combined to hit 16 of 34 shots, but they didn't get much help. North Carolina shot 38 percent to end Roy Williams' first year at his alma mater in the second round.
"I thought it was a very interesting season," McCants said. "I never thought it would end like this."
North Carolina didn't have a second-half field goal until Jawad Williams hit a jumper from the free throw line at 17:04, and the Tar Heels missed 10 of their first 12 shots with Texas pushing its lead to 57-44.
But McCants wouldn't let the Longhorns pull away.
He hit a 3-pointer to get North Carolina within 10, followed with a steal and layup a few minutes later, then bowled over Ivey in the post for a layup that made it 57-53 with just under 11 minutes left.
Texas went up 62-56 on Brian Boddicker's 3-pointer from the corner, but McCants came right back with a runner in the lane a few seconds later.
McCants couldn't bring the Tar Heels all the way back.
Texas went on a 7-0 run to go up 11 with 5˝ minutes left before North Carolina whittled the lead to 75-72 on Melvin Scott's 3-pointer with 25 seconds left.
The Tar Heels had a final chance after Raymond Felton hit a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and D.J. Tucker went 1-of-2 on free throws at the other end, but McCants' final shot sailed over the basket at the buzzer. It wouldn't have mattered - his foot was on the line.
"When you are down three with eight seconds to go and no timeouts, you are lucky to get anything," Roy Williams said. "We got the ball to the right guy, but they did a nice job of staying in front of him and not flying through the air."
Both teams seemed to enjoy a little freedom after facing slow-it-down teams in the first round; Texas had trouble with Princeton's deliberate style before pulling away in the second half, and North Carolina did the same against Air Force.
Pace wasn't much of a problem in this one, with the teams matching each other almost shot for shot in a blistering first half.
Texas' Kenton Paulino and Felton got things going by trading 3-pointers four minutes in, then Williams dunked over Brad Buckman for a three-point play after a steal and drop pass by Felton.
Mouton squared up for a 3-pointer on one end, and McCants followed with consecutive 3s at the other. McCants knocked down another from long range with 9˝ minutes left, but Kenny Taylor answered five seconds later with a spot-up 3 that put the Tar Heels up 27-26.
Texas kept it going with its liberal substitution pattern - 10 players combined to shoot 60 percent for a 44-39 halftime lead.
McCants did most of North Carolina's damage, shooting 6-of-11 for 15 points.
