Tar Heels run a play for Rashad McCants, who hits winner vs. No. 1 UConn.
By Wire services
Published January 18, 2004
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - North Carolina ran the play only one time, good enough for another win over a No. 1 team.
Rashad McCants hit a 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds left to give the ninth-ranked Tar Heels an 86-83 victory over No. 1 Connecticut on Saturday.
"That was the only time we ran that the whole game," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said of the play that got McCants a wide-open look from the left side. "When we called the timeout, that's what we set up."
And it added to the tradition of Tar Heels basketball.
It was North Carolina's 10th win over a top-ranked team, tying UCLA for the most.
Ben Gordon's 3-point attempt to tie bounced off the rim, setting off a wild celebration among the 21,750 at the Smith Center.
"That crowd deserved a great game," said McCants, who scored 27 points against Connecticut for the second straight year.
He tied the score at 83 with a 3-pointer with 1:15 left, then hit the winner off the set play.
"It's about stepping up. Big players make big shots and I just wanted to do that," McCants said. "He had confidence in me and that's all you can ask for in a coach."
North Carolina's win will likely move its archrival, Duke, to No. 1.
The Tar Heels (11-3) led by 16 points early in the second half only to see the Huskies (14-2) take an 83-80 lead with 1:30 to play.
"The first half was the best we played by far," Williams said. "Early in the second half we played as badly as we have on the offensive end. The good thing was we kept playing, we just couldn't finish."
Connecticut, which had an 11-game winning streak snapped and lost on the road as a No. 1 team for the first time in 12 games, missed two shots after McCants tied it.
North Carolina ran the clock down from 30 seconds, and Raymond Felton started his move with 10 seconds left and found McCants on the left side for the winner.
The Huskies' Emeka Okafor had 29 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks.
"We displayed the heart of a champion in the second half, but we didn't finish it as we have to to be a champion," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.
Gordon moved to point guard early in the second half when Taliek Brown picked up his fourth foul.
"I told our guys that if you just believe, then we can have a fun, fun time in that locker room," Williams said. "And we did have a fun time in there."
