No. 6 UNC Dunks Dartmouth
North Carolina still has a way to go to impress Coach Bill Guthridge, but the Tar Heels made a huge impression on Dartmouth.
With a front line measuring 7-foot, 6-11 and 6-9, No. 6 North Carolina overpowered the smaller Ivy League team 82-68 Saturday.
"They were just huge," said Dartmouth coach Dave Faucher.
His players saw it the same way.
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"There was a play (Brendan) Haywood caught the ball in the post, took one dribble and dunked over me, and they called a foul," said 6-8 Ian McGinnis. "There wasn't a thing in the world I could have done to stop that."
"They were just too big, and there were so many of them. They kept bringing them in and they were always fresh, and they're all real talented."
Haywood, the 7-footer, finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. He was joined by 6-11 Kris Lang with 20 points and 10 boards and 6-9 Ademola Okulaja with 11 points and five rebounds. Reserve Brian Bersticker, 6-10, added eight points and six rebounds.
The Tar Heels needed the frontline work with starting guards Ed Cota and Jason Capel out with injuries. Their replacements, Terry Newby and Max Owens, managed 13 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Newby added eight assists.
Guthridge said his team played the same as it would with Cota and Capel, "though probably not as well."
But he praised Newby and Owens.
"Newby did a good job of running the team," Guthridge said. "They did a good job taking up the slack."
"Size obviously was a big factor. We were trying to get the ball inside throughout the game."
But Guthridge is not as impressed with his own team as those who vote in the polls.
"I feel we're overrated," he said, attributing the Tar Heels' high ranking to their Preseason NIT champinship. "I think we're maybe in the top 30-40 teams."
North Carolina (12-1), playing at Dartmouth for the first time after a tough victory against Louisville on Thursday, led by as many as 16 points in the first half, and 19 in the second, but could never blow away the spirited Big Green (4-4).
The Tar Heels led only 42-35 at the half before Lang hit a jump hook, a layup and two free throws to make it 50-37. The Big Green never got closer than 11 points again.
Dartmouth, with only one starter as tall as 6-9, was no match inside for the Tar Heels. North Carolina outrebounded the Big Green 43-26, and outscored Dartmouth 20-6 on second chance shots.
The front line also had five of seven blocked shots, and forced others to be misdirected or not taken at all.
The big green was forced to rely almost entirely on the outside shooting of Shaun Gee, McGinnis and Greg Buth. Gee made three 3-pointers and finished with 24 points, McGinnis was 3-of-3 from 3-point range for 19 points, and Buth hit four 3s for 16 points.
Dartmouth took 29 of its 65 shots from 3-point range, and hit 12, getting more than half its points on 3s.
Gee gave Dartmouth a good start with its first seven points for a 7-4 lead, and it was 16-16 before North Carolina went on a 11-0 run, behind five points from Michael Brooker.
The margin grew to 34-16 before Dartmouth went on a 13-2 run that included two 3s by Buth and one by McGinnis.
"I didn't think they'd ever miss, and then McGinnis started hitting them," Guthridge said. "They're hard to play, but we did a better job after the half, and I think another thing is they work so hard they get a little tired."
The Tar Heels opened up the lead in the second half, leading 67-48 after two more dunks by Haywood and three baskets from Bersticker.
Dartmouth managed to slice the lead to 76-65 with just more than three minutes left, but Haywood's dunk started a run of six straight points before Gee's final 3.
North Carolina holds a 6-1 lead in the series, dating to an opening loss in 1941.
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