Heels Humbled - Texas bursts past UNC with late run

REBOUND BATTLE: LONGHORNS DOMINATE BY MARGIN OF 60-41

Heels Humbled Texas bursts past UNC with late run

ARLINGTON, Texas -- North Carolina made a determined late run but Texas held firm and pulled away in the final seven minutes for a 103-90 victory yesterday afternoon in the first basketball game in Cowboys Stadium.

The Tar Heels sliced a 17-point Longhorns lead to 82-78 with 6:58 left and had an opportunity to draw closer after forcing a missed shot. Larry Drew's 3-point attempt from the top of the key fell well short, however, and the Longhorns grabbed the rebound to begin the game's decisive run.

Damion James delivered a three-point play for Texas, muscling in a layup and then hitting a free throw after being fouled by Ed Davis, and the lead was seven points. Will Graves couldn't handle a bounce pass from Davis on North Carolina's next possession, one of 16 turnovers, and Texas scored again to increase the lead to nine.

Burly Dexter Pittman, a 6-10, 290-pound center, grabbed the rebound of a missed 3-point attempt ahead of Davis and then moved past Tyler Zeller for a reverse dunk. Texas sealed the win with a 21-12 scoring run in the final 6:10.

Coach Roy Williams of North Carolina watched his team come up short for the third time this season after falling behind strong teams and making desperate comeback attempts, including losses to Kentucky and Syracuse.

"We made a nice comeback, but you're supposed to come back," Williams said. "You're supposed to try and play your best. It is extremely disappointing to have another chance on a big-time stage and not play as well as I think we can play."

Texas (10-0) became the only team to score 100 points against North Carolina (8-3) in a regulation game in the 224th game of Williams' coaching era.

Davis led the Tar Heels with 21 points and nine rebounds, and Zeller added 16 points and three rebounds off the bench. Marcus Ginyard scored 13 points and Dexter Strickland had 12 points as a reserve.

James led the Longhorns with 25 points and 15 rebounds, and helped ignite a run in the first half that broke open a close game and gave the Longhorns their halftime lead. Pittman bulled his way to 23 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, 12 coming on offense.

"Dexter Pittman sort of kicked our tails by himself," Williams said. "We didn't run him. We didn't get him in foul trouble. He's a load inside."

Williams said he thought the key factors were rebounding and second-chance points. Pittman and James helped Texas forge a 60-41 rebounding advantage, with 29 rebounds coming on offense.

The offensive rebounds helped Texas outscore North Carolina 27-11 on second-chance points.

Coach Rick Barnes of Texas stressed rebounding to his team all week while preparing for North Carolina, emphasizing that it could be a crucial factor against a team that wants to run on every possession.

"We told them that the game would be decided around the basket, both offensively and defensively," Barnes said. "We actually told our guys, ‘Blocking out is not enough. You've got to go get it.' "

The teams traded the lead for the first 14 minutes of the game before Texas went ahead to stay. James didn't score his first field goal until 6:49 was left in the first half, and his basket sliced North Carolina's lead to 32-31.

The Tar Heels took another three-point lead when Strickland made two free throws and were ahead 35-33 on Zeller's free throw. James made a free throw and dunked on a break to send the Longhorns ahead 36-35 with 4:30 left before halftime and the Tar heels never led again.

Texas closed the first half on a 23-7 scoring run for its halftime lead. Its last six points came on three baskets in the final 27 seconds of the half, starting when J'Covan Brown made a layup for a 50-41 advantage.

Williams was so upset with his team's play that he walked briskly off the court for the locker room.

UNC Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Thompson 21 3-12 2-2 2-7 3 3 8

Davis 34 9-13 3-6 1-9 0 4 21

Ginyard 33 5-12 1-2 1-5 4 3 13

Drew II 27 1-4 1-2 0-4 5 4 4

Graves 12 3-9 0-0 1-3 0 3 8

Strickland 18 5-8 2-4 0-0 3 1 12

McDonald 3 1-3 0-0 1-2 0 0 2

Watts 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Henson 12 0-2 0-0 1-1 1 1 0

DWear 14 2-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 6

TWear 8 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0

Zeller 15 7-8 2-3 2-3 0 3 16

Totals 200 36-75 11-19 12-41 17 25 90

Percentages: FG .480, FT .579. 3-Point Goals: 7-13, .538 (Ginyard 2-3, Graves 2-3, D.Wear 2-3, Drew II 1-3, McDonald 0-1). Team Rebounds: 5. Blocked Shots: 9 (Davis 4, Henson 3, T.Wear, Thompson). Turnovers: 16 (Drew II 5, Ginyard 4, Strickland 2, Thompson, Davis, D.Wear, Watts, Zeller). Steals: 6 (Drew II 3, Thompson 2, Strickland).

TEXAS Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

James 34 8-22 9-14 5-15 1 2 25

Pittman 26 9-16 5-8 12-15 1 3 23

Bradley 28 7-17 4-5 1-4 2 4 20

Balbay 25 1-2 0-1 0-2 2 4 2

Mason 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Johnson 15 2-4 0-0 2-4 2 0 5

Lucas 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0

Wangmene 8 1-2 0-0 1-3 0 3 2

Hill 6 0-1 0-0 1-2 0 0 0

Hamilton 17 2-10 0-0 3-6 1 1 5

Brown 27 6-12 6-6 1-5 3 0 21

Chapman 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Totals 200 36-87 24-34 29-60 13 21 103

Percentages: FG .414, FT .706. 3-Point Goals: 7-22, .318 (Brown 3-6, Bradley 2-5, Johnson 1-1, Hamilton 1-4, Mason 0-1, James 0-5). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 6 (Pittman 2, James, Bradley, Wangmene, Hill). Turnovers: 13 (Balbay 3, Hamilton 2, Brown 2, Bradley 2, Pittman, Lucas, Johnson, James). Steals: 11 (James 4, Bradley 3, Brown 2, Balbay, Hamilton). Technical Fouls: None.

North Carolina 41 49 -- 90
Texas 54 49 -- 103

A--38,052.