AUSTIN, Texas – If college basketball games were 35 minutes in length,
Tennessee would be in luck.
Unfortunately for the Vols, they’re not.
Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year Joseph Forte poured in a
game-high 22 points to lead North Carolina’s comeback over the Vols, 74-69,
in the South Region Semifinals.
Although the Tar Heels trailed the Vols by as many as nine points, head
coach Bill Guthridge kept his team calm. Before the game, he told his
players that they would be playing from behind.
“I’m just so proud and happy for this team,” Guthridge said. “Things didn’t
look very good for us, but I thought everyone did a great job.”
It was Forte who got the Tar Heels started, scoring 11 of Carolina’s 18
points for an 18-11 UNC lead with 13:38 left in the half.
But Tennessee, a team that defeated defending NCAA champ Connecticut to
reach the Sweet 16, fought back.
Led by stellar post play, the Vols managed to cut the deficit to three with
a layup by Vincent Yarbrough. The Vols then went on a 15-3 run capped off
by a three by C.J. Black and a rim-shaking jam. The dunk gave the Vols a
30-23 lead at the 7:03 mark.
Both teams traded baskets until Jason Capel drained a buzzer-beating three
for Carolina. The Tar Heels went into the locker room trailing the Vols
39-36.
After intermission, Tennessee managed to re-establish its lead courtesy of
Black. Black scored six consecutive points for the Vols to make it 45-38.
The Vols continued their dominance inside when Ron Slay nailed a jump hook
with 12:19 to play. That gave the Vols their largest lead at 51-42.
Carolina responded with some inside play of their own. Led by Brendan
Haywood and Julius Peppers, the Tar Heels cut the Vol lead to 55-53.
Haywood, the Tar Heels’ major inside force, fouled out at the 8:03 mark,
forcing Carolina to go with a small lineup against the Tennessee
rotation.
It worked.
“That was our last strategy, to put in a smaller lineup,” Guthridge said.
“We were fortunate that we could score and take advantage of the small
lineup we had.”
At the 4:27 mark, the Vols were simply shut down. Forte drained a three to
spark a 13-0 Carolina run to surge past the Vols and take a 70-64
lead.
“I thought for about 35 minutes we played awfully good,” Vol head coach
Jerry Green said. “The last four minutes, we tried to force shots. We
didn’t get it done and they did.”
A long desperation three by Tony Harris was good to make it 70-67 with
:13.6 to play. However, two Ed Cota free throws and a Max Owens dunk at the
buzzer sealed the win for UNC.
“We’ve been playing from behind most of the year so we’re accustomed to
it,” Forte said. “We just didn’t want to go home.”
In a game in which the focus was on the inside game, the Vols won the
rebounding battle 38-34 and managed to drop in 19 second-chance points to
Carolina’s six. However, UNC won the war in the middle by outscoring
Tennessee 36-28 in the paint.
Perhaps a more interesting battle was fought in the backcourt. Carolina’s
starting duo of Forte and Cota combined for 33 points, 12 boards and seven
assists. In comparison, the Vols’ backcourt of Harris and Jon Higgins
totaled a mere 12 points, eight boards and four assists.
North Carolina shot a sizzling 50 percent from the field while holding
Tennessee to 36 percent. Forte’s 22 led all scorers. Cota and Haywood each
had 11 points while Kris Lang added 10 for the Tar Heels.
Black led the way for the Vols with 17 points and five boards in his final
game as a Volunteer.
“It was a great game for me,” the senior said. “I wanted to prove that I
could play against a seven-footer.”
Yarbrough followed Black with 13 points. Slay added 12 points, 10 of them
coming in the first half. Isiah Victor also netted 11 points for the
Vols.
The Vols finished with a 26-7 record and made it farther into the
tournament that any other Tennessee team.
