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SPORTS

Loss puts Tar Heels in low country

Tuesday, January 5, 2010
(Updated 7:56 am)

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — North Carolina coach Roy Williams has a beach home just north of the city in the Wild Dunes resort and, with the university on winter break, brought the ninth-ranked Tar Heels in on Saturday night with the team staying at the swanky Charleston Place hotel.

That was the highlight of the trip.

North Carolina (11-4) squandered an 11-point lead in the final minutes Monday and lost 82-79 in overtime to the College of Charleston (8-6).

"It doesn't feel good for us right now. It's a tough, tough night," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "But we've got to bounce back and be smarter and more effective."

Williams said the team was as low as it could be.

"It hurts," said Ed Davis, who led North Carolina with 19 points and 16 rebounds.

Charleston's Andrew Goudelock scored the last eight points in regulation, including the tying 3-pointer from about 28 feet over the 6-foot-10 Davis with 2 seconds left.

Bobby Cremins isn't even sure how his team managed this upset.

"Going on a 12-1 run with 4 minutes to go against North Carolina, usually that's lights out," Cremins said. "So I've got to watch the tape tonight to figure out what happened."

North Carolina won't want to be reminded how it happened.

Donavan Monroe opened the overtime with a 3-pointer to put the Cougars ahead for good as they defeated a Top 25 team for the first time since beating the then-third ranked Tar Heels 66-64 on Dec. 5, 1998.

Along with his go-ahead 3-pointer, Monroe hit two free throws for the final margin.

Goudelock scored 24 points, none bigger than his fadeaway jumper that forced overtime.

"He was so far back, and it was contested," Monroe marveled. "It was just the slowest shot ever."

And it pretty much took the life out of North Carolina.

The Tar Heels' Dexter Strickland missed a layup with 4 seconds left. Davis' cross-court pass with less than a second left was picked off by Monroe and the celebration began.

Monroe clutched the basketball as time ran out and fans rushed the court at the Carolina First Arena. Cremins was 12-33 against the Tar Heels while at Georgia Tech.

This one figured to be out of his team's reach, however, especially after North Carolina took the 72-61 lead.

But the Cougars called on their long-range shooting to pull out the victory. Goudelock hit two of his four 3s the rest of the way.

Charleston was 13 of 32 from behind the arc. North Carolina's only 3-pointer came in overtime when Larry Drew II cut Charleston's lead to 82-79.

That's as close as the Tar Heels got.

Williams was already miffed from the Tar Heels being outscored 23-2 down the stretch in their last game against Albany. That didn't cost North Carolina, which had built a 38-point lead and won comfortably 87-70.

This time, the Tar Heels paid for their mistakes. They shot 38 percent, were 1 of 6 on threes and forced 10 turnovers.

"This was a great test for us," Davis said. "We just didn't get it done."

That the Tar Heels were in this at all was because of their size and accuracy at the free throw line. North Carolina outrebounded Charleston 56-36 and was 24 of 34 from the line.

North Carolina's starting backcourt of Drew and Strickland were a combined 5 of 21 from the field for 17 points.

NORTH CAROLINA (11-4) — Drew II 3-10 2-2 9, McDonald 4-9 3-4 11, Thompson 7-11 3-6 17, Watts 1-6 0-0 2, Henson 1-3 0-0 2, Davis 5-11 9-12 19, D.Wear 1-3 0-0 2, T.Wear 0-1 0-0 0, Zeller 3-6 3-4 9, Strickland 2-11 4-6 8. Totals 27-71 24-34 79.

COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON (8-6) — Simmons 6-11 1-2 13, Breeden 6-11 0-0 15, Monroe 5-13 2-2 15, Goudelock 10-20 0-1 24, White Jr. 5-14 0-0 13, Lawrence 0-3 0-0 0, Wright 0-1 0-0 0, Hall 1-3 0-1 2. Totals 33-76 3-6 82.

Halftime—Coll. of Charleston 37-36.
End of regulation—Tied at 73.
3-point goals—North Carolina 1-6 (Drew II 1-2, McDonald 0-1, Strickland 0-3), Coll. of Charleston 13-32 (Goudelock 4-8, Breeden 3-5, Monroe 3-6, White Jr. 3-9, Hall 0-1, Lawrence 0-3).
Fouled out—Breeden.
Rebounds—North Carolina 56 (Davis 16), Coll. of Charleston 36 (White Jr. 8).
Assists—North Carolina 13 (Davis, Drew II, Strickland 3), Coll. of Charleston 18 (Monroe 6).
Total fouls—North Carolina 14, Coll. of Charleston 22.
A—5,072.

Accompanying Photos

Robert Willett

Photo Caption: John Henson (left) and Tyler Zeller watch the final seconds of North Carolnia's overtime loss to College of Charleston.

Comments

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rayzer

January 5, 2010 - 9:27 am EST

UNC gets awarded 34 free throws and CoC only 6??? And UNC doesn't get preferential treatment.... yeah right. Even the zebras couldn't pull UNC through this time.

DaveW

January 5, 2010 - 10:10 am EST

Bobby Cremmins can still coach. He was great at Georgia Tech and Appalachian State before that.

Bilbo

January 5, 2010 - 10:41 am EST

...

Bilbo

January 5, 2010 - 10:47 am EST

..and aparently they felt they could get through this game without the services of "their boy".. Karl Hess....so they sent ol' Karl down to Durham on Sunday to see if he could create some mischief for the Devils....leaving the Heels without one of their top zebras....

DaveW

January 5, 2010 - 2:17 pm EST

What if all 11 of the other ACC coaches would threaten to not play if Karl called their game against UNC? Maybe then the ACC would finally get rid of him.

whyus

January 5, 2010 - 4:28 pm EST

Carolina isn't nearly as good as they think they are. They may have some great individual players but aren't playing as a team.

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