My View From Las Vegas
Saturday, March 26, 2005
SYRACUSE REGIONAL North Carolina Becomes A.C.C.'s Sole Survivor By JOE LAPOINTE
SYRACUSE, March 25 - When the N.C.A.A. basketball tournament began in four regionals two weeks ago, the Atlantic Coast Conference had five representatives. Two of them, North Carolina and Duke, were seeded No. 1. A No. 2-seeded team from the A.C.C., Wake Forest, thought it deserved better. But with the eventual winner of this tournament now halfway to the six victories that will bring a championship, the A.C.C. is down to one candidate, and perhaps a trifle fortunate to have that one. The contender is North Carolina, which obliterated an early 12-point Villanova lead, survived foul trouble, endured lapses of sloppy play and almost squandered an 11-point lead with less than five minutes left before outlasting the undermanned Wildcats for a 67-66 victory in a regional semifinal Friday night at the Carrier Dome. North Carolina (30-4) will face Wisconsin on Sunday for the regional championship and the right to go to the Final Four in St. Louis. The Badgers beat North Carolina State, 65-56, earlier Friday night. Villanova's last chance to tie the score came with 12 seconds remaining when it appeared that Allan Ray hit a layup and was fouled. But the officials ruled that Ray had traveled when his feet got tangled with those of a defender. "I thought the ref called the foul - he called the walk," Ray said. "We should have never put ourselves in that position. I can't say that's the reason we lost." Rashad McCants said that he moved over to cover Ray in the normal defensive rotation and that Ray was surprised to discover him there. "I know I didn't foul him," McCants said. Many fans, hoping for an upset, booed heartily throughout the final moments of the game, as well as afterward. After the Wildcats cut the lead to a point on a 3-point field goal by Kyle Lowry with 1.8 seconds left, they got the ball back at center court on an interception of a long inbounds pass. But Lowry's halfcourt heave did not come close to connecting. Randy Foye of Villanova led all scorers with 28 points. For North Carolina, McCants had 17 points and Marvin Williams 16. North Carolina has won the tournament three times, most recently in 1993. This season is the 20th anniversary of Villanova's only national championship, in 1985, which it clinched with a memorable 66-64 victory over heavily favored Georgetown in the final. The Wildcats (24-8) played without Curtis Sumpter, their 6-foot-7 freshman forward from Brooklyn, who injured a knee in a second-round game. Sumpter led Villanova in rebounds with an average of 7.2 a game and was second in scoring at 15.3. Villanova opened up a 12-point lead in the first half, but the Tar Heels shaved the margin to 33-29 by intermission. The score was tied at 35-35 and 42-42 before Williams put North Carolina ahead by 44-42 with two free throws, and the Heels increased their lead to 5 points. But Villanova came back, tying the score again at 50-50 before the Heels pulled out to a 61-50 lead with less than five minutes remaining. North Carolina began to dominate the boards and pounded the ball into the paint, forcing Villanova to commit fouls. The Tar Heels took advantage of the free-throw opportunities. "I feel as fortunate as we can possibly feel," said Roy Williams, the North Carolina coach. "It was a hairy game at the end." Sean May expressed no regrets. "It's all about survival," he said. "It wasn't pretty. It was ugly. We've got a lot of positives because we're still playing." Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
