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Men's Hoops Falls to No. 10 North Carolina
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January 21, 1999
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Brendan Haywood scored 12 points and added acareer-high 16 rebounds as No. 10 North Carolina overwhelmed cold-shootingVirginia with its powerful inside game 71-47 Thursday night.
The Tar Heels (16-4, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) moved into a third-placetie with Florida State in the league standings, outrebounding Virginia 61-32.
Ademola Okulaja led the Tar Heels with 16 points, while adding 11 rebounds.Haywood’s previous rebounding high was 12 earlier this season againstCalifornia.
The Cavaliers (10-9, 1-6), who missed their first 13 3-point attempts, fellto 0-14 in the Smith Center and 3-56 in Chapel Hill in scoring a season-lowpoint total. Willie Dersch led the way with 13 points.
ACC scoring leader Chris Williams scored two points in the first half andwas 0-for-6 from 3-point range as the Cavaliers shot 28 percent in the opening20 minutes, were outrebounded 27-8 and fell behind 37-17.
The 20-point margin was North Carolina’s largest halftime lead of theseason.
Williams, averaging 18.4 points, made his first 3-pointer with 17 minutesleft as the Cavaliers went on a 12-0 run to close within 12 points. But Ed Cotaand Ronald Curry nailed consecutive 3-pointers and Okulaja added a shot in thelane to push the score to 49-31 with 12:56 left.
The Cavaliers never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way asWilliams finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
Virginia appeared to be in for a long night from the start as Haywood scoredNorth Carolina’s first three baskets on follow shots. Twenty-eight of the TarHeels’ 37 first-half points came in the lane.
North Carolina used a 23-4 run midway through the opening half – including16 straight points – to put this one away. Reserve Brian Bersticker scored sixpoints during the run, while Okulaja added a 3-pointer and a follow shot as theTar Heels took a 33-10 lead.
At one point, the Cavaliers missed 11 of 12 shots during the North Carolinaspurt.
North Carolina starting forward Jason Capel, who averages 9.8 points and 4.8rebounds, missed the game because of a virus. Schools officials said Capel wasbeing tested for mononucleosis, which has stricken assistant coach DaveHanners.
By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer