ACC TOURNAMENT
Tar Heels Play Like They Truly Want ACC Title
Published: Mar 11, 2007
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TAMPA - To all the Carolina Blue-clad fans in town for the ACC Tournament and to those back home on Tobacco Road, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams has a personal message for you:
He truly does want to win North Carolina's first ACC Tournament championship in nine years today against not-so-friendly neighbor N.C. State.
Of course, he'd rather win the NCAA Tournament title if forced to choose between the two, but for those of you who sometimes write him grumpy letters for not hyping winning the ACC Tournament title more, Williams wants to assure you his team is pumped after its 71-56 throttling of Boston College on Saturday.
"If you don't try to win it, why should you come? It's a wonderful time. It's a marvelous experience," Williams said Saturday. "I've never come here and said, 'Let's don't win it. Let's relax and get ready next week.' I've always wanted to win it, but people act like I don't."
The way the Tar Heels played Saturday, it's obvious they want to win the tournament title in North Carolina's first trip to the championship game in six years. Right from the beginning against Boston College, the Tar Heels played with the kind of passion reminiscent of a team on a mission.
"We came out with great intensity, got some stops, and that was the key to our win," said Tyler Hansbrough, who scored nine points and grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
North Carolina jumped out to a 27-11 lead and led 38-23 at halftime, holding ACC Player of the Year Jared Dudley to four points (1-for-8 shooting) and Eagles point guard Tyrese Rice five points (1-for-7) in the first half.
Behind Sean Marshall's game-high 23 points, Boston College (20-11) closed to within nine at 50-41 with 13:01 remaining on Marshall's 3-pointer, but North Carolina (27-6) then went on a 14-5 run to crash the championship game for the first time since Williams returned to his alma mater in 2003.
With freshman guard Ty Lawson pressuring Rice and preventing him from getting the Eagles set on offense, BC shot only 34.5 percent (19-for-55). Dudley warmed up in the second half and finished with 20 points, but Rice failed to score after halftime.
"He's like the heart of their team," Lawson said. "I wanted to contain him and limit the amount of damage he could do."
Boston College's shooting woes allowed the Tar Heels to grab some long rebounds and score 14 fast-break points. With Hansbrough still struggling offensively while wearing a protective mask to protect his broken nose, Brandan Wright led the Tar Heels with 20 points, 16 of them coming on eight dunks.
"It was clear that tempo was going to be real important for us," Boston College coach Al Skinner said. "That fact we missed layups and missed free throws led to run-outs for them. That's the biggest difference in the ballgame."
"We're right there," North Carolina's Reyshawn Terry said. "The closer we get to the championship game, the more interest we have in doing something we haven't done in a while."
Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.
