DATE: Monday, March 10, 1997                TAG: 9703100146

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C.                  LENGTH:   93 lines

NO DANCE FOR CINDERELLA UNC SPOILS WOLFPACK'S BID FOR FAIRY TALE FINISH IN ACC

North Carolina, after its worst ACC start ever, concluded league business Sunday in more familiar style by winning its 14th tournament championship.

The Tar Heels (24-6), ending North Carolina State's fairytale run with a 64-54 victory, also clinched a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament's East Region.

They will begin their 23rd straight NCAA tournament visit in Winston-Salem on Thursday with an opening round game against Fairfield (11-18).

Some observers thought the Heels' string of tournament visits might end after they began the ACC season with three straight defeats.

``People were doubting us, but I stayed optimistic throughout,'' said North Carolina guard Shammond Williams, named the most valuable player in the tournament.

``We are not finished, either. I don't think we are playing our best basketball yet.''

N.C. State, which opened league play with eight straight losses, isn't finished either.

The gritty Wolfpack (16-14), which proved in the last four days it could play with anyone, is headed for the NIT.

Seeded eighth in the tournament after a 4-12 regular-season, State shocked nationally ranked Duke and Maryland en route to the title game.

Despite playing for a fourth straight day, the Pack never ran out of steam in the title game.

It just ran up against a superior opponent that was bigger and could shoot better.

As they had done in the semi-finals against Wake Forest, the Tar Heels sizzled offensively in the second half to take the victory and leave coach Dean Smith only one game short of tying Adolph Rupp as the winningest coach in NCAA history.

The Heels hit 66.7 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes with the spark coming from the same person who had supplied it on Saturday.

Junior guard Williams scored 21 second-half points after hitting only one field goal in the first half.

He was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammate Antawn Jamison, N.C. State's C.C. Harrison and Justin Gainey and Wake Forest's Tim Duncan.

On Saturday, Williams scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half while Carolina shot 68 percent from the floor.

During his encore Sunday in the Greensboro Coliseum, Williams nailed three straight 3-pointers for a 45-34 UNC lead with 12:14 remaining.

After swishing his third, Williams left the game and the stubborn Pack scored seven straight points to narrow the gap again.

Williams was back in the game at the end as the Heels hit eight straight free throws - four by Williams - to ice the win.

UNC coach Smith was asked after the game to explain why he had taken Williams out after his three straight treys.

``He gave the tired signal. I'm not that dumb,'' Smith replied.

Williams confirmed he was dragging.

``I didn't think about being hot,'' Williams said. ``I just felt if I was tired that one of my teammates could step up and do a better job.''

Williams was just as modest about being named MVP.

``I don't want people to think I took control of the game. It was not like that,'' he insisted. ``My teammates got me the ball and set screens for me.

``I don't want the headlines to say that Shammond did it. I want the headlines to say North Carolina did it.''

Williams, in fact, did have considerable help, especially in the first half.

The Heels built a 30-24 lead with Williams hitting only one field goal and Jamison getting 12 and Serge Zwikker 8.

Jamison finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, Zwikker with 14 points and 9 rebounds.

It was North Carolina's work on the glass and interior defense that troubled the Wolfpack the most.

``They did a great job dominating on the glass, and they made a decision that if we were going to win that we would have to make outside shots,'' State coach Herb Sendek said.

The Wolfpack made only 20 of 61 field goal attempts (32.8 percent), however, and was out-rebounded, 41-21.

Williams, who scored more than 20 points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career, finished the tournament by making 18 of 32 field goal attempts, nine of 18 3-pointers, 15 of 17 free throws, 60 points, and 15 assists.

Two Tar Heels, Zwikker and Ed Cota, were named to the All-Tournament second team, along with N.C. State's Jeremy Hyatt and Danny Strong, and Maryland's Keith Booth. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot

North Carolina players hail ACC tournament MVP Shammond Williams

after the Tar Heels' championship Sunday in Greensboro. Williams

was joined on the All-Tournament team by teammate Antawn Jamison,

N.C. State's C.C. Harrison and Justin Gainey and Wake Forest's Tim

Duncan.

North Carolina's Amendola Okulaja (top) battles N.C. State's Jeremy

Hyatt for a rebound in the first half of Sunday's ACC title game.

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