NORTH CAROLINA 108, ARKANSAS 77 : Run out of Raleigh

BY BOB HOLT

Posted on Monday, March 24, 2008

URL: http://www.wholehogsports.com/adg/220745/

RALEIGH, N. C. — North Carolina never gave Arkansas a chance.

The No. 1 Tar Heels dominated the Razorbacks from start to finish and pounded Arkansas 108-77 Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament before a crowd of 19, 477 at the RBC Center.

“We were pretty doggone good,” said North Carolina Coach Roy Williams, whose team advanced to play Washington State in the East Regional semifinals. “We really were.”

North Carolina’s 31-point winning margin represented the second-most-lopsided loss for the Razorbacks in NCAA Tournament play, surpassed only by a 97-62 setback to Cincinnati and Oscar Robertson in 1958.

“If North Carolina keeps playing like this, no one can beat them,” Razorbacks senior point guard Gary Ervin said. “No way.”

For Arkansas (23-12 ) to pull the upset, getting off to a good start was imperative, but instead the opposite happened.

North Carolina (34-2 ) jumped out to a 9-0 lead

1 the first 2 / 2 minutes and scored on 19 of its first 23 possessions to move ahead 42-18 after sophomore forward Deon Thompson’s basket with 4: 40 left in the first half. The Razorbacks didn’t pull closer than 21 points the rest of the game and trailed by 36 points, 103-67, in the second half. “It’s a game of runs — we’re still waiting for ours,” Arkansas Coach John Pelphrey said. “We lost this game everywhere you want to look at it. “ They were just better than us.... I think I’m safe in saying that’s the best team we’ve played this year.” North Carolina sophomore guards Wayne Ellington (20 points ) and Ty Lawson (19 points ) combined to hit 14 of 21 field goal attempts.

Lawson and senior backup point guard Quentin Thomas combined for 11 assists without a turnover.

Tar Heels All-America junior center Tyler Hansbrough added 17 points and 10 rebounds and Thompson had 16 points on 8-of-8 shooting.

“It seemed like every shot they took went in,” Arkansas sophomore guard Patrick Beverley said. “Contested. Uncontested. Everything they shot was going in.”

North Carolina shot 61. 3 percent in the first half (19 of 31 ), then got hotter. The Tar Heels shot 73. 5 percent in the second half (25 of 34 ) to finish at 67. 7 percent for the game.

“I think you’ve got to give Carolina all the credit,” Pelphrey said. “I don’t think that there was ever really a time where we got it going or played well for a stretch.

“ They kept us out of rhythm basically the whole day on both ends of the floor.”

Arkansas had won four of its past five games, including beating Vanderbilt and Tennessee in the SEC Tournament and beating Indiana 86-72 Friday night for its first NCAA Tournament victory since 1999.

“I guess we expected the game to be a little closer,” North Carolina junior forward Marcus Ginyard said. “But I think when you look back on it and look at some of the things that we did out there, we made it tough for them to make a run back at us.

“ I think that speaks for our team and the way we played today.”

The Razorbacks shot 35. 7 percent (10 of 28 ) in the decisive first half and started 5 of 14 from the field in falling hopelessly behind.

“Arkansas had some open shots in the first half that they just missed,” Williams said. “When you add that to how we played, it was a pretty tough day for them.

“ But they are a really good basketball team. Today just wasn’t their day.”

Senior forward Sonny Weems led the Razorbacks with 19 points, senior center Darian Townes had 15 points and nine rebounds and Beverley added 14 points. Ervin had four assists without a turnover.

“I don’t think we played extremely well, but I don’t think we played extremely bad,” Beverley said. “It’s just that Carolina shot so well, and we couldn’t respond.

“ They just played a complete game today.”

Arkansas fell to 1-8 all-time against No. 1-ranked teams. The Razorbacks beat No. 1 North Carolina 65-64 in 1984 at Pine Bluff.

Williams was a Tar Heels assistant for Dean Smith back then, and now has a better memory of facing Arkansas with a topranked team.

“We used all our energy,” Townes said. “But it wasn’t enough to get it done.”

North Carolina improved to 23-1 in NCAA Tournament games played in its home state, including an 18-game winning streak.

But Pelphrey didn’t use the game site or fact that North Carolina fans filled most of the seats at the RBC Center as an excuse for Sunday’s outcome.

“I didn’t think the environment kept us from playing well,” Pelphrey said. “North Carolina was our problem today.”