37 Years Ago Today-March 5, 1977 -- ACC Final: No. 4 North Carolina 75-Virginia 69

Will it be déjà vu? Upstart Virginia came from the sixth seed in 1976 to sweep the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament from the No. 4 Tar Heels in Landover, Maryland, and claim their first league crown. In 1977 at the Greensboro Coliseum, the Wahoos are trying to do it again from the seventh seed against the two-time regular season champion, the sixth-ranked Tar Heels.

North Carolina Captures ACC Championship By Edging Virginia

By LUTHER GAILLARD
Assistant Sports Editor

GREENSBORO, N. C. -- Last year Virginia won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship following a three-day plow job in the tournament and it was  hailed as the "Cinderella Story" of college basketball.

This year the story bore similar earmarks. It has to be called the "Cinderella Story Revisited -- Almost."

While Virginia was stumbling through December, January, and most of February, teams like Wake Forest, Clemson, and North Carolina were enjoying banner seasons.

But the Cavaliers, who came into this tournament in much the same position a year ago, dropped Wake Forest on Thursday, chilled Clemson on Friday and came within an inch of pasting North Carolina Saturday.

But the fourth-ranked and top seeded Tar Heels gained a slight advantage in the final minutes, shifted into the four corners and budged defending champion Virginia, 75-69, before a full house of 15,735 and a regional television audience.

"This was the most unusual game," UNC's Dean Smith said after all the nets had been chopped down and most all the people had gone home. "There was a lot of emotion on both teams. They came in with five tournament wins (three last year) and all five were different teams all ranked above them."

The Cavaliers zipped through N. C. State, Maryland, and North Carolina at the Capitol Centre in Landover, Md., and this year stumbled only in the final minutes against the Tar Heels. All six teams Virginia faced in the tournament were ranked.

"North Carolina did exactly what they had to do tonight," Virginia's Terry Holland said. "They forced the tempo and we were so exhausted that we couldn't go. There is no question that the kids gave everything they had but were about four minutes short of winning this one."

The Tar Heels showed up with Walter Davis in uniform but the Olympian from Pineville was forced to the bench with the injury to the index finger on his shooting hand, the injury he received in the win over N.C. State. It was only Saturday morning that officials discovered the finger was broken.

Davis, with the finger taped to his middle finger, made his entrance with 15:48 left and Virginia holding a 46-43 lead.

"I didn't think we would be able to play Walter because he was hardly able to catch the ball but he pleaded with me and I'm a sentimentalist so I let him in," Smith said.

It was during that time that Davis gave the Tar Heels a lift and they went from three down to three up. But Virginia shook off all the emotional effects that the Tar Heels gained by Davis' presence and ran up a 62-55 lead with 7:39 to go on the strength of six straight points.

"We had our chances," Holland said. "We had control of the game then but we had to try to ease off a little and you can't do that against a team like North Carolina. They just controlled the tempo on us."

Defense, if anything, tied up the championship for the Tar Heels. They pressed Virginia out of its shoes in the second half and forced enough turnovers to take a 65-64 lead with 4:19 to go on a bucket by Tom Zaliagiris cutting down the lane.

It was during that period that North Carolina was forcing three straight turnovers and operating with only two starters on the floor. Phil Ford, the leading scorer with 26 points, fouled out with 5:45 to go.

Mike O'Koren, who had 21 points and eight rebounds, came through with a key three-pointer with 6:19 to go. Marc Iavaroni was charged with a blocking foul on O'Koren's drive in the lane with 6:19 to go and it cut Virginia's lead from 64-58 to 64-61.

We wound up with all those players on the bench but we went on to win some way, somehow," Smith said. "It was a real gutty performance by our guys. They wanted it bad."

The Tar Heels will represent the ACC in the NCAA playoffs beginning Saturday with a date opposite an at-large entry at Raleigh.

"We will go to the playoffs and do the best we can," Smith added. "This has been a great team and they deserved whatever comes their way."

It appeared that North Carolina was on the verge of making a move midway through the first half, pulling into a 17-12 lead on a three point play by Ford and a 17 footer by Kuester.

But the sizzling Cavaliers weren't ready to lay down and let the Tar Heels take over. David Koesters and Langloh dropped in two from the perimeter to pull the unranked Wahoos within a point and by the time the clock had wound down to 5:13, Virginia was sitting on a slight 28-27 lead on four straight free throws, two by Stokes and the other two by Owens.

Stokes canned a 17 footer to give Virginia a 30-27  lead with 4:35 to go but the Tar Heels hadn't fallen out of the first half picture. O'Koren brought the Heels back with four points and Kuester knocked in six of North Carolina's final eight points.

Iavaroni had a final crack at giving the Cavaliers a three-point cushion at the half but the inside attempt was short, North Carolina's 80-foot toss was just off its mark at the buzzer and Virginia carried the shaky 40-39 lead into intermission.

There were 27 free throws launched in the first half and 25 of them fell through the net. Virginia was 14 of 14 and the Tar Heels were 11 of 13.

Ford was the hottest item on the floor, hitting seven of 10 attempts and turning in a five-of-five effort from the line for 19 points.

VIRGINIA (69)    FG    FT    REB   PF   TP
Koesters         2-2   0-0   1     5    4
Iavaroni         4-8   2-5   10    4    10
Castellan        2-8   0-1   7     4    4
Langloh          5-11  2-3   3     3    12
Stokes           6-9   5-6   1     4    17
Fulton           0-1   2-2   2     0    2
Newlen           0-5   4-4   3     2    4
Owens            3-5   10-10 6     2    16
Briscoe          0-0   0-0   0     0    0
Jefferson        0-0   0-1   1     1    0
Team                         1
TEAM TOTALS      22-49 25-32 35    25   69

NO CAROLINA (75) FG    FT    REB   PF   TP
Buckley          1-2   0-0   3     4    2
O'Koren          8-14  5-5   8     5    21
Yonakor          0-2   4-4   4     3    4
Ford             10-18 6-7   2     5    26
Kuester          4-7   6-6   2     3    14
Zaliagiris       2-4   0-0   1     3    4
Davis            0-1   0-0   0     2    0
Wolf             0-0   0-0   0     0    0
Krafcisin        2-3   0-0   1     1    4
Colescott        0-0   0-1   0     1    0
Bradley          0-0   0-2   3     4    0
Coley            0-0   0-0   0     0    0
TEAM                         0
TOTALS           27-51 21-25 24    31   75

Field goal percentages: Virginia 44.9; North Carolina 52.9

ASSISTS
Virginia (8): Koesters 1, Iavaroni 1, Castellan 1, Langloh 4, Owens 1
North Carolina (11): O'Koren 2, Ford 3, Kuester 3, Krafcisin 2, Bradley 1

TURNOVERS
Virginia (16): Iavaroni 4, Castellan 1, Langloh 2, Stokes 5, Owens 4.
North Carolina (13): Buckley 1, O'Koren 2, Ford 3, Kuester 1, Davis 1, Krafcisin 1, Colescott 1. Bradley 3.

A -- 15,735

[From The Spartanburg Herald-Journal, March 6, 1977]

38 Years Ago Today-February 24, 1976 -- North Carolina 91-NC State79

On February 24, 1976, with a win over the No. 18 Wolfpack, the third ranked Tar Heels clinched the ACC regular season title and a first round bye for the ACC tournament after 3 years of second place finishes...and Phil Ford running the Four Corners helped secure the victory.

Tar Heels Corner ACC Title

From Wire Reports

The patented North Carolina "four corners offense" is becoming as symbolic of basketball success as Red Auerbach's victory cigars.

The third-ranked Tar Heels went to the corners again Tuesday night and, like Auerbach's famous cigar-lighting routine with the championship Boston Celtics teams of the 1960s, that spelled impending defeat for 18th ranked North Carolina State. Behind Phil Ford's 26 points, North Carolina put away State 91-79 and in doing so, clinched the regular season Atlantic Coast Conference crown and a first round bye for the ACC tournament.

However, it was the ease in which the Tar Heels won on the Wolfpack's home court plus the surprising speed (12:42 left to go leading 63-56) with which they went into the four courners that led observers to feel Coach Dean Smith's club is indeed a notch above everyone else in the unusually balanced ACC.

"It's the earliest I can remember we went to the four corners this year," said Smith, "but I can't remember (Mitch) Kupchak and (Tommy) LaGarde with four fouls that early either." (Kupchak got his fourth foul with 15:37 left, LaGarde 13:29). That put the onus on Ford to dribble the time away as his teammates spread out in a box formation. State was forced to foul the 6-foot-2 sophomore and Ford was unerring in his foul shots despite the hoots and jeers of 12,400 fans.He hit on all 16 free throw attempts. 

Walter Davis added 20 points while LaGarde and Kupchak contributed 17 each for the Tar Heels, now 23-2 and 10-1 in the ACC, while State's Kenny Carr was the game's high scorer, hitting 33 points for the 18th ranked Wolfpack, now 7-4 in the ACC and 19-6 overall. North Carolina State coach Norman Sloan told sportswriters that Carr should be named the ACC's player of the year.

"He is the best basketball player in the league," said Sloan. "He has done more for his team than any other player."

Characteristically, Smith praised N.C. State but left no question he felt his own team has greatly developed since early season too.

The Wolfpack beat North Carolina 68-67 in the teams' first meeting this season at Chapel Hill. "N.C. State has improved since we played them in Chapel Hill," he said, "but I think we've improved too. We're in better shape defensively." The regular season title, Smith said, was an "honor," but "the tournament is still our real goal, though. We want to win the tournament."

Sloan was called for two technicals early in the game, the first after leaping to his feet and shouting at a Wolfpack foul and the second when he argued about the call with the referee.

He said he didn't understand why the reason for the calls. "I just jumped up and reacted....The guy has to be looking to call one on you."

NORTH CAROLINA (91)

Ford 5 16-16 26, Kuester 3 4-5 10, Kupchak 6 5-6 17, Davis 7 6-9 20, LaGarde 6 5-8 17, Buckley 0 1-2 1, Zaliagiris 0 0-0 0, Chambers 0 0-0 0, Hanners 0 0-0 0, Coley 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 37-46 91.

NORTH CAROLINA STATE (79)

Green 6 2-3 14, Davis 1 0-0 2, Sudhop 2 3-6 7, Spence 3 3-3 9, Carr 15 3-5 33, Walker 1 0-0 2, Ewing 1 0-0 2, Adell 4 0-0 8, Jackson 1 0-0 2. Totals 34 11-17 79

37 Years Ago Today-February 23, 1977 -- North Carolina 90-NC State 73

As the ACC race was coming down to the wire, the Tar Heels took on their neighbors from nearby Raleigh, extended their winning streak to seven games, and look to make a final push for the regular season championship.

Carolina Blasts Wolfpack

United Press International 

CHAPEL HILL --- Eighth-ranked North Carolina, paced by Phil Ford's 24 points, downed North Carolina State 90-73 Wednesday in an Atlantic Coast Conference basketball game.

The Tar Heels, who shot 62 per cent against North Carolina State must defeat Duke Saturday in Durham to gain at least a share of the regular season ACC crown with Wake Forest.

Walter Davis and Mike O'Koren scored 14 each and Tom Zaliagiris added 10 as North Carolina improved its ACC record to 8-3 and overall mark to 20-4.

North Carolina State, now 5-6 in the league and 15-10 overall, was led by Kenny Carr with 18, Tony Warren with 16 and Clyde Austin and Charles "Hawkeye" Whitney with 10 apiece.

North Carolina led the game by as many as 30 points, 84-54, with 6:38 remaining in the game.

The two teams played evenly for the first 12 minutes of the game, but the score was tied up 23-23 with 8:25 remaining before the half. The Tar Heels, paced by Ford, then outscored the Wolfpack 23-9 in the remaining eight minutes. By intermission, the Tar Heels were ahead 12 points, 46-34.

In the second half, the Wolfpack could pull no closer than 10 points, 52-42, with 15:53 left in the game. For the next nine minutes, North Carolina outscored North Carolina State 32-12 to gain a 30 point advantage.

The Wolfpack was able to cut the lead to the final margin when North Carolina coach Dean Smith used his substitutes freely in the last six minutes.

North Carolina outrebounded North Carolina State 37-28 with Walter Davis pulling down 12 for the Tar Heels. Warren grabbed 11 for the Wolfpack.

North Carolina State hit only 45 per cent of their shots from the floor.

State will finish the regular-season Saturday night against Wake Forest in Raleigh. The loss was the second straight for the Wolfpack in ACC play and the first time the team has lost by such a large margin all year.

State had beaten the Tar Heels in the first regular-season meeting in Raleigh. Carolina had beaten State in Greensboro in the opening game of the year in the Big Four Tournament.

North Carolina State (73)

Warren 6 4-5 16 Whitney 5 0-0 10 Carr 8 2-2 18 B Walker 1 0-0 2 Austin 5 0-0 10 Green 0 0-0 0 S Walker 1 0-0 2 Sudhop 3 0-1 6 C Davis 4 1-2 9 Ewing 0 0-0 0 Totals 33 7-10 73

North Carolina (90)

W Davis 5 4-4 14 Coley 0 0-0 0 Buckley 1 1-2 3 Kuester 4 0-0 8 Ford 8 8-8 24 O'Koren 5 4-4 14 Yonakor 2 1-2 5 Zaliagiris 5 0-0 10 Wolf 2 4-6 8 Bradley 0 0-1 0 Daughton 0 0-1 0 Virgil 1 0-0 2 Wiel 1 0-2 2 Totals 34 22-30 90

Halftime - North Carolina 46 North Carolina State 34   Fouled Out - none   Technical Fouls - Carr  Total Fouls - North Carolina State 25 North Carolina 16 A - 10 000