Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 29, 1993 TAG: 9303290080
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. LENGTH: Long
"It definitely would have been a disappointing season if we hadn't gone back to the Final Four," said Lynch, who was voted the most outstanding player Sunday in North Carolina's 75-68 overtime victory over Cincinnati in the NCAA East Region championship basketball game.
Lynch had 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds as North Carolina overcame a 15-point first-half deficit at Brendan Byrne Arena. The Tar Heels sent coach Dean Smith to the NCAA Tournament semifinals for the ninth time in his 32-year career.
It was the first time Carolina has made the Final Four without winning the ACC championship, and the Tar Heels (32-4) needed to score the last nine points of the game before they could rest secure.
Given a reprieve when Carolina's Brian Reese missed a dunk at the end of regulation time, the Bearcats (27-5) went ahead 68-66 to start the overtime, then failed to score on their last seven possessions.
"I felt like we had the momentum as soon as we went to overtime," Cincinnati forward Erik Martin said, "but, to be honest, they just wore us down. They were getting as many shots as they wanted, and we didn't have our legs."
All-America guard Nick Van Exel, who scored 21 points in a little more than 15 minutes, was limited to one field goal after halftime and missed his last eight shots to finish 8-for-24.
"Nick and I talked at halftime, and I told him, `The other people have got to do something,' " Cincinnati coach Bob Huggins said. "Nick's not going to get 50 with them running at him and doing other things."
North Carolina, which trailed 29-14 after Van Exel's fifth of six first-half 3-pointers, didn't wait until the second half to fight back. A 12-0 run enabled the Tar Heels to go ahead 36-35 before halftime.
"Usually, when we get way down like that, I tell them, `Let's cut it to eight by the half,' " Smith said. "I'm glad I didn't say that today, but I was thinking, if we could cut it to seven or eight, we'd be in good shape."
Carolina was able to slow Van Exel after switching from its usual "help" defense to a scheme that put Derrick Phelps on Van Exel full time.
"After he got his 21 points, he convinced me," Smith said. "I told the team to go back to regular pressure, but I whispered to Derrick not to leave Van Exel."
Cincinnati refused to let Carolina seize the momentum in the second half, however. The Bearcats led until Reese scored off an inbounds play to make it 59-57 with 7:56 left.
"Almost every time we've been in a close game this year, we've handled it well," Smith said. "Today, we said, `Let's spread it out and do it this way,' and I don't think we looked too good. In a schoolyard, you look better than that."
Cincinnati was down 66-62 before coming back to tie the score on a breakaway layup by Tarrance Gibson. That set up a sequence that could have turned Sunday's game into the most controversial of the tournament.
After Lynch missed from close range, Carolina was awarded possession when the ball went out of bounds with .8 seconds left. The Tar Heels set up a play for Reese to tap the ball at the basket.
"That's what I was supposed to do," Reese said, "but I was so open I decided I would try and slam it."
Replays showed that the ball did not leave Reese's hand before time expired, but official Jody Silvester said he would have counted it. It didn't matter, however, because the ball bounced off the back iron.
Cincinnati's lead in the overtime proved to be short-lived when Lynch's layup made it 68-68 with 4:13 left, then sophomore guard Donald Williams hit the first of back-to-back 3-pointers.
"As soon as I came across midcourt [in the overtime], I heard coach Smith say, `Knock it down,' " said Williams, who scored the last nine points in Carolina's 80-74 victory over Arkansas on Friday. "That gave me a lot of confidence."
Huggins said the big play in overtime was Lynch's offensive rebound after a Phelps miss with 3 1/2 minutes left. Moments later, Williams' 3-pointer made it 71-68.
"George is good," Huggins said. "He's not as flashy as the other guys; he just does the dirty work. He doesn't get the credit he deserves."
Cincinnati,a 7 1/2-point underdog, had talked all week about its relative lack of attention, but Huggins didn't want to talk moral victories after falling just short of a second straight trip to the Final Four.
"We're well past that point," said Huggins, heaping praise on his six seniors. "We could have won the game; don't you think for a minute that we couldn't.
"We're one of the elite programs in the country and, if you don't think so, you don't know basketball. We're going to remain one of the elite programs in the country."
The Tar Heels long have been in that category, and they are making their second trip to the Final Four in the past three years. It was apparent that Carolina had higher goals, however, when the Tar Heels declined to cut down the nets.
"They brought the scissors out to us," Lynch, a senior from Roanoke, Va., said, "but we got together and decided not to use them. We only had dreams of New Orleans." \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB