Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 15, 1992 TAG: 9203150138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
North Carolina made sure it would get another crack at Duke by defeating second-seeded Florida State 80-76 Saturday afternoon.
So, for the seventh time, and the fourth in the past five years, it will be the Tar Heels against the Blue Devils for the tournament championship. For the record, UNC leads, 5-1, and upset Duke in last year's game by 22 points.
The Tar Heels faced another similar challenge against FSU (20-9), the league rookie that got off to a fast start by coming to Chapel Hill in December and embarrassing Carolina.
Later, the 18th-rated Seminoles would win the rematch, scoring 110 points and tying the record for the most ever against a Dean Smith team.
Smith changed his plan this time. The defense shut down FSU's penetration by guards Charlie Ward and Sam Cassell. And the Heels sent Hubert Davis flying to the other end any time the Seminoles fired from long range.
A couple of good things happened for Carolina (21-8). Florida State misfired (9-for-29 on three-pointers) and Davis got numerous easy layups.
Davis had 16 points at the half, with just one outside basket, and the 'Noles were in foul trouble.
"The last time, they made all those 3-pointers," Smith said.
In the second half, Carolina fought off the first FSU challenge when junior George Lynch scored nine consecutive points after the 'Noles had drawn to 48-46.
Lynch, who did most of his damage on the offensive glass and finished with 14 rebounds, had 21 points. "I looked for my offense a little more. I think the team needs it," said the former Patrick Henry High School player from Roanoke, Va.
"I tended to look for my shot. It opened up the offense."
Actually, nobody but Davis (28 points) and Lynch scored from the floor for the Tar Heels in the final 16:43. Of the last 37 UNC points, they combined for 26 (14 by Lynch).
But FSU finally found the range, and kept chipping away at what was a 14-point deficit in the first half and a dozen points, 69-57, at 4:17 to play.
Florida State elected to foul "and we didn't make our free throws," said Davis, the ACC leader in that category.
The Heels missed eight of 22 down the stretch, and Florida State had one chance for a miracle.
Down 73-70 after a Cassell 3-pointer with 1:25 left, FSU elected not to foul and Derrick Phelps forced a bad shot as the time clock expired.
But Davis, not known for his rebounding, claimed the ball and was fouled. "Usually, I don't crash the boards like that," he said, "but this time I did and the ball just fell my way."
Davis was fouled and made one of two with 39 seconds left. After an FSU miss, Davis again made one foul shot and it was 75-70.
Ward hit a 3-pointer with 12.6 seconds left, but any hopes of FSU winning ended when a couple of Seminoles called a timeout that the team didn't have.
"The players saw our bench stand up and they called the timeout," said FSU coach Pat Kennedy, who took his third timeout with 3:16 left "because we needed to get our offense more organized."
Davis hit both free throws after the technical foul, and it was all over.
In the 39 years of the tournament, either Carolina or Duke has been in the final 31 times. And when they're in it together, basketball fans of this area have their wishes fulfilled. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB