Tar Heels

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - North Carolina's Roy Williams woke up Sunday morning feeling ill. The Hall of Fame coach then had to endure one stomach-turning play after another in a dramatic finish that left the Tar Heels in a familiar spot: the NCAA tournament Sweet 16. Tyler Zeller scored 23 points, Harrison Barnes added 22, and North Carolina survived for an 86-83 win over seventh seeded Washington (24-11) in the East Regional. The Tar Heels are into the second weekend for a record 24th time.

The undermanned UCLA Bruins were no match for North Carolina. The No. 4 Tar Heels handed No. 7 UCLA its second-worst loss ever, 109-68, last night in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout in Anchorage. Antawn Jamison scored 23 points and Vince Carter added 22 as the Tar Heels (4-0) beat the Bruins (0-1), who played without suspended starters Kris Johnson and Jelani McCoy. Both reportedly failed drug tests. "I think if they get the other two back, they'll be good," North Carolina coach Bill Gutheridge said.

There are comebacks and then there are comebacks for the ages. Maryland served one up for the Atlantic Coast Conference history books last night. Obinna Ekezie scored a career-high 21 points and Laron Profit was key down the stretch as the 19th-ranked Terrapins rallied from a 22-point second-half deficit to stun No. 13 North Carolina, 85-75, in Carolina's famed Dean Dome. "I've been coaching a while in a lot of different places and this is the best comeback I've been associated with," said Maryland coach Gary Williams, whose team beat the Tar Heels in consecutive road games for the first time in 67 years.

Vince Carter didn't need long to impress a man who isn't easily impressed. "His best game so far," North Carolina coach Dean Smith said last night after Carter played an eventful 16 minutes to help the 17th-ranked Tar Heels defeat Tulane, 89-71, in the first round of the Tournament of Champions in Charlotte, N.C. In the later game, Dion Cross and Andy Poppink each had six points in a second-half run that sent No. 16 Stanford (3-1) to an 82-70 victory over South Carolina. South Carolina (2-1)

Moorestown's Lewis Burnham, one of the top football prospects in South Jersey, has made an oral commitment to North Carolina. He chose the Tar Heels over Iowa, Rutgers, Kentucky and West Virginia. According to NCAA rules, recruits can't sign letters of intent until Feb. 6. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound Burnham was recruited as a tight end. Last season, he started at offensive tackle before shifting to tight end for the season's final three games. "I went down there for a camp and really liked the campus," said Burnham, who has scored 1,210 on the SAT and plans to major in business.

The most important body part going into the NCAA Midwest Regional is the left wrist of 6-foot-11 North Carolina forward John Henson. Henson missed the last two games of the ACC tournament after he fell and landed on the wrist against Maryland. The Tar Heels lost in the tournament final to Florida State but still received a No. 1 seed. North Carolina and No. 2 Kansas appear to be head and shoulders above the next two seeds in this region. Upset possibilities can be found in the middle of the bracket with Temple, San Diego State, and St. Mary's.

Andrew Goudelock's long three-pointer tied the game with 2 seconds left in regulation and Donavan Monroe gave host College of Charleston the lead for good with a three to start overtime, and the Cougars beat No. 9 North Carolina, 82-79, last night. The Tar Heels (11-4) had trailed most of the game, but used a late run to take a 72-61 lead with 4 minutes to go. That's when Goudelock and the Cougars (8-6) got going. Goudelock scored the last eight points in regulation, including the fadeaway three from about 28 feet with 6-10 Ed Davis in his face to make it 73-all.

Freshman Austin Rivers buried a three-pointer at the horn to give No. 10 Duke an 85-84 win at No. 5 North Carolina last night. Rivers scored a season-high 29 points and hit six threes, the last of which will certainly live on in the lore of this fierce rivalry. With the Blue Devils (20-4, 7-2) trailing by two, Rivers launched a three over 7-footer Tyler Zeller from the right wing. The ball swished through the net, sending Rivers running down the court in celebration while the rest of his teammates gave chase before mobbing him in front of a stunned UNC crowd.

King Rice hit a driving scoop shot at the buzzer last night to cap a 10-0 run in the final minute and lift North Carolina (No. 7 AP and UPI) over James Madison, 80-79, in the opening round of the Maui Classic in Lahaina, Hawaii. The Tar Heels will meet Villanova in a semifinal tonight. James Madison led, 79-70, with 1 minute, 15 seconds left after a free throw by Fess Irvin. That was the Dukes' last point as North Carolina nailed a long jumper, two three-pointers and Rice's dramatic shot for the win. Steve Hood, a transfer from Maryland, led James Madison with 32 points, William Davis had 20 and Irvin, a transfer from Louisiana State, had 13. Kevin Madden led five Tar Heels in double figures with 19 points.

North Carolina is no longer invincible to Virginia. Chris Williams and Roger Mason Jr. scored 18 points each and No. 15 Virginia overcame a series of late runs by North Carolina and beat the visiting Tar Heels, 73-63, last night. "It was ugly," Mason said. "But we have a 'W' in our column and we're going to run with it. " The Cavaliers beat the Tar Heels for the third straight time at home, the first time since 1980-82 they've managed to do that. Virginia (16-6, 6-5 Atlantic Coast Conference)

NORTH CAROLINA'S star underclassmen decided they wouldn't put off their goal of playing in the NBA any longer. The school said Thursday that Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Kendall Marshall will enter the draft, ending a 2-year run in which the Tar Heels made deep NCAA Tournament runs only to fall a game short of the Final Four each time. The school didn't state whether the three planned to hire an agent in its release announcing the departures, though it appears they are in the draft to stay.

Tyshawn Taylor broke out of his slump in a big way Sunday, scoring 22 points and leading Kansas back to the Final Four with an 80-67 victory over former coach Roy Williams and top-seeded North Carolina. The second-seeded Jayhawks (31-6) will play Ohio State on Saturday in their first appearance in the Final Four since 2008, when they won the national championship. And how's this for symmetry? Kansas began this year's tournament in Omaha, Neb., the same place as four years ago. As the game ended, Taylor - much maligned for his shooting struggles during the first three games of the NCAA tournament - ran to Kansas fans and raised both arms in the air. "There's no way to put into words the way we feel," Williams said.

ST. LOUIS - It's a riddle neither North Carolina nor Kansas finds funny. Is it better for your star guard (the Tar Heels' Kendall Marshall) to be injured and unable to play, or your star guard (the Jayhawks' Tyshawn Taylor) to play so miserably he would be better off riding the bench? Either way, the two heavyweights playing in the Midwest Regional final Sunday are striking down the notion that outstanding guard play is the key to NCAA tournament success. "We were damn ugly, that's what we were," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said Saturday, given time to reflect on his team's overtime escape against No. 13 seed Ohio the previous night.

North Carolina will have as many as four players selected in the next NBA draft. On Friday night, with one of those players - point guard Kendall Marshall - sitting on the bench with a fractured right wrist, the top-seeded Tar Heels were almost shown the door in the NCAA tournament. Ohio, a lowly 13 seed, thrived on its night in the spotlight and, with everyone in the Edward Jones Dome not wearing Carolina Blue cheering them on, forced the Tar Heels into overtime in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

THE FATHER OF North Carolina point guard Kendall Marshall said yesterday his son is recovering from surgery on his broken right wrist and it's unclear whether he will return for the NCAA regional games in St. Louis. Dennis Marshall said the procedure done in Chapel Hill, N.C., to insert a screw into his son's wrist lasted about 35 minutes. He said when Kendall plays again would be based on "what would be best for Kendall in the long term" and that he didn't know whether the sophomore would be ready to play in the round of 16 against Ohio on Friday.

John Henson proved he's healthy enough to help North Carolina's latest push for the Final Four. It remains to be seen if Kendall Marshall will be able to help the Tar Heels. Henson had 13 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks in his return from a wrist injury, but Marshall broke a bone in his right wrist during the second half of North Carolina's 87-73 victory over Creighton in the third round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday in Greensboro, N.C. Coach Roy Williams confirmed the injury after the game, and said he would talk to Marshall and his parents about his status Sunday night.

Draymond Green does it all for the Michigan State basketball team. He added one more duty Sunday, mopping sweat out of the lane late in the Spartans' third-round NCAA West Regional game against St. Louis. Green, a 6-foot-7, 230-pound senior from Saginaw, Mich., is the Spartans' unquestioned leader, and not just because he led his team into the Sweet 16 with 16 points, 13 rebounds, and six assists in a 65-61 victory over St. Louis in Columbus, Ohio. Green has the trust of his coach, Tom Izzo, who said, "I've never had a player that can pick up a scouting report faster than this kid can. " So when things were getting tight against the plucky Billikens of the Atlantic Ten, Green was the man with the basketball.

IT'S BEEN A long time since North Carolina State was mentioned in the same breath with the elite programs in the nation, let alone in its own state. Now, a new coach and a new attitude have the Wolfpack faithful harkening back to the glory days of David Thompson and Jim Valvano. Lorenzo Brown hit three free throws in the final 10.6 seconds and the Wolfpack returned to the Round of 16 with a 66-63 upset of third-seeded Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament's Midwest regional yesterday at Columbus, Ohio.

JOHN HENSON says he's improving from a wrist injury and sounds eager to return to for North Carolina's NCAA Tournament opener. Coach Roy Williams isn't quite so sure whether the two-time Atlantic Coast Conference defensive player of the year is ready to snatch rebounds in traffic or swat shots to start the fastbreak. "He has to feel comfortable that he can play and then I have to decide whether his play will be effective," Williams said yesterday. "And I am being extremely honest, I do not know.

The most important body part going into the NCAA Midwest Regional is the left wrist of 6-foot-11 North Carolina forward John Henson. Henson missed the last two games of the ACC tournament after he fell and landed on the wrist against Maryland. The Tar Heels lost in the tournament final to Florida State but still received a No. 1 seed. North Carolina and No. 2 Kansas appear to be head and shoulders above the next two seeds in this region. Upset possibilities can be found in the middle of the bracket with Temple, San Diego State, and St. Mary's.