Hands Of Stone Doom Kentucky Wildcats Go Ice Cold, Home; North Carolina Goes To Seattle

North Carolina, cunning and calm, turned powerful Kentucky into a surprisingly ragged and confused team in the clutch Saturday to win their heralded NCAA Southeast Regional basketball showdown, 74-61.

The second-seeded Tar Heels move on to the Final Four in Seattle. The Wildcats will go home and try to figure out what went wrong.

Plenty did, from the questionable strategy of coach Rick Pitino to the shaky shooting and execution of his players. Kentucky came into this meeting of legendary programs as the favorite, but Carolina left with everything it wanted.

“I’m kinda stunned,” Pitino said after watching his team suffer through a 28-percent shooting performance. “I’m really disappointed. We brought a great team in, and we leave as individuals.”

Beautifully prepared by graybeard coach Dean Smith, the Tar Heels never blew up or caved in during a weird first half, when 6-foot-10 sophomore Rasheed Wallace went scoreless and spent more than 10 minutes on the bench with three fouls.

Meanwhile, Kentucky couldn’t hold an early 13-5 lead when the Wildcats’ pressure defense smothered Carolina shooters. The Tar Heels just kept working within their game plan, moving the ball around until some shots began to fall. Then, as Kentucky’s shooters kept missing, the trend shifted. By halftime, North Carolina held a 34-31 lead.

Smith, seeking his third NCAA title in 34 years at North Carolina, was so gracious in victory that he almost didn’t give his players the praise they deserved.

“This was not a particularly wellplayed game by either team,” Smith said. “We were fortunate Kentucky didn’t shoot better. But I’m very impressed with our players and their aggressiveness.”

Nerves were tightly wound on both sides, but North Carolina survived nearly every crucial situation better than Kentucky. Most notable was a clash between Wallace and 6-9 senior Andre Riddick in the early minutes.

Riddick fouled Wallace, Wallace threw an elbow at Riddick after the whistle and Riddick grabbed Wallace’s throat. Players, officials and coaches swarmed in to separate them and prevent a fistfight. Wallace was assessed a technical foul and, strangely, so was Wildcat Walter McCarty, who appeared to be one of the peacemakers.

After the free throws were shot by both sides, Kentucky led 10-2, but Pitino then benched Riddick and McCarty for most of the half.

Wallace opened the second half with a flourish, hitting a short jump shot for a 36-31 lead, and Carolina was in control. After trailing by as much as 11, Kentucky cut the lead to three with 7:59 left, but the Tar Heels pulled away behind Jerry Stackhouse.

North Carolina 74, Kentucky 61

NORTH CAROLINA (28-5)

Calabria 2-3 3-4 8, Stackhouse 3-9 11-14 18, Wallace 5-9 2-2 12, McInnis 3-6 0-0 6, D.Williams 7-15 2-2 18, Landry 1-3 0-0 2, Zwikker 2-3 1-2 5, Sullivan 1-1 0-0 2, S.Williams 0-0 3-4 3. Totals 24-49 22-28 74 KENTUCKY (28-5)

Rhodes 2-10 3-4 7, McCarty 5-9 2-2 14, Riddick 2-5 2-4 6, Delk 7-21 0-0 19, Sheppard 2-9 0-0 4, Epps 0-5 4-4 4, Pope 0-2 1-2 1, Prickett 2-6 0-0 4, Walker 1-5 0-0 2, Harrison 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 21-75 12-16 61.

Halftime-UNC 34, Kentucky 31. 3-Point goals-UNC 4-15 (D.Williams 2-8, Calabria 1-1, Stackhouse 1-3, Landry 0-1, McInnis 0-2), Kentucky 7-36 (Delk 5-14, McCarty 2-4, Pope 0-1, Walker 0-2, Harrison 0-2, Epps 0-3, Sheppard 0-4, Rhodes 0-6). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-UNC 43 (Stackhouse 12), Kentucky 38 (Walker 6). Assists-UNC 12 (Stackhouse 6), Kentucky 19 (Rhodes, Epps 4). Total fouls-UNC 12, Kentucky 23. Technicals-Wallace, McCarty. A-17,721