Tar Heels play just well enough to win against Winthrop

BY DAVID SHAW
SALISBURY POST

CHAPEL HILL — Firemen routinely refer to assignments like this as milk runs.

The North Carolina men’s basketball team was supposed to jog onto the Smith Center court Friday night, stomp out a small blaze started by upstart Winthrop and return to the station for some chest-thumping and camaraderie.

Instead, the sixth-ranked Tar Heels launched the Matt Doherty coaching era with a smoke-damaged 66-61 victory in the first round NABC Classic.

“I know what it looks like,” said UNC guard Joseph Forte. “People are going to see that score and they won’t understand. The truth is, Winthrop played good basketball.”

Carolina, on the other hand, played only well enough to win. The Tar Heels failed to convert a basket in the last 4:55 and needed six free throws down the stretch to wrap it up.

“My heart’s racing a little bit,” said Doherty, the ex-Tar Heel who replaced Bill Guthridge on the UNC bench. “It was a tough first game to play, but it was a good one because this is the type of team you’re going to see in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But no, it’s not what we expected.”

A crowd of 16,850 showed up expecting UNC to treat Winthrop like uninvited guests at a biker’s convention. The visitors, 21-9 a year ago, quickly doused those hopes by grabbing a 13-4 lead in the first six minutes.

“It shows how good we can be,” senior Jason Cappel qualified. “A lot of us didn’t shoot well tonight and we still won the game. We had to fight through a lot of adversity.”

Even Doherty, dressed like a walking Armani ad, had to clear an early stumbling block. He was called for his first technical foul while communicating defensive instructions to freshman Brian Morrison.

“That was a misunderstanding and I think (referee) Tim (Clougherty) would admit to that,” Doherty said. “He told me to calm down and I understand that. I respect that. But I can’t whistle. That’s my problem. My dad could whistle. Coach (Roy) Williams was a good whistler. But I can’t, so I stomp my feet, these size 14’s. As soon as the ref turned around I stomped them and he must have thought I was yelling at him.”

UNC responded with a 9-0 run and tied the score 13-13 on Kris Lang’s left-handed hook with 11:40 to play in the first half. Another spree, this one 11-3, gave the Heels a 39-30 edge just before halftime.

“We did a lot of good things but we also made a lot of mistakes,” said seven-foot center Brendan Haywood, who did only a few. “Winthrop — they had everything they needed to win this game, for the upset to shock the world. But we had a little more energy when it counted most.”

They needed it in the second half, when the visitors kept the game closer than Florida recount reports. Winthrop never trailed by more than 11 points, and drew within 62-58 on Eyo Effiong’s putback with 1:44 left.

“They made us pay for not boxing out,” said Lang, one of five UNC scorers in dobule figures. “Small things we didn’t do — that’s why they hung around so long. Fortunately, we can correct them and that’s a positive.”

UNC avoided embarrassment with some clutch, last-minute free-throw shooting. Michael Brooker converted a pair to give the Heels a 64-58 lead with 10.7 seconds to go and Forte, who shot only 2-for-11 from the field, sank two from the line to close the scoring with 3.5 seconds left.

“They were a good team, plain and simple,” said Capel. “They got us to play their game. They exploited us inside when our big man (Haywood) got in foul trouble and they knocked down their shots.”

Doherty, who led Notre Dame to 22 wins and berth in the NIT final last season, seemed more relieved than overjoyed by victory no. 1 in Chapel Hill.

“It would have been nice to win by a comfortable margin,” he said. “But I think this was good for us. This will help us.”

NOTES: Carolina will face (Arizona State/Tulsa winner) for the tourney title at approximately 8:30 p.m. today. ... Morrison, a 6-2 point guard from Redmond, Wash., was a pleasant surprise. He nailed three of four three-point shots, scored 14 points and made three steals — all in 19 minutes of action. He even tried a baseline dunk in the second half. “He’s so quick,” said Capel. “And he’s not afraid to make a mistake. That’s what we like about him.”