Heels Suffer First Loss

Top 25 men’s basketball

For the first time as a head coach, Bill Guthridge had to talk about a loss.

And although No. 1 North Carolina’s leading scorer got only one point over the final 18 minutes Wednesday night and the Tar Heels fell apart in overtime, Guthridge took the blame.

“I don’t think I coached as well as I should have. I hope I can learn from my mistakes,” Guthridge said after Maryland handed the visiting Tar Heels their first loss of the season, 89-83.

North Carolina (17-1, 4-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) had won 34 of 35, including 17 straight under Guthridge, who took over for Dean Smith this season. The Tar Heels had won three games by five points or less, including a two-point decision in overtime against Georgia.

This time, however, North Carolina never led after Laron Profit made two foul shots for a 84-82 lead with 2:11 left. Profit scored six of his 19 points in overtime for the Terrapins (10-5, 3-2).

Antawn Jamison scored 27 points for North Carolina, but he missed four foul shots in overtime and his one free throw with 7.4 seconds left was his only point over the final 18 minutes.

“The second half it was just one of those nights I just couldn’t even see the ball,” he said. “Maryland didn’t do anything special. They didn’t really pay too much attention to me.”

Rodney Elliott and Obinna Ekezie both scored 16 points for Maryland, which lost by 32 points at home to Duke just 11 days earlier. Profit clinched the win by making two foul shots for an 87-82 lead with 18 seconds left.

The Terrapins did it by becoming the first team this season to shoot over 50 percent against North Carolina (34-for-66) and by outrebounding the Tar Heels 39-32.

“The key was that we were able to rebound with a great rebounding team,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said.

(2) Duke 88, Wake Forest 52

At Winston-Salem, N.C., Shane Battier led a stifling defensive display that sent the Blue Devils (15-1, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) to victory over the Demon Deacons (8-6, 1-3), Wake Forest’s worst loss in the nine-year history of Lawrence Joel Coliseum.

(3) Kansas 83, Texas A&M 65

Paul Pierce and Eric Chenowith led a second-half scoring surge and the Jayhawks (20-2, 4-0 Big 12) took advantage of the Aggies’ (6-8, 0-4) icy second-half shooting for a victory at College Station, Texas.

(13) Iowa 61, Ohio St. 46

At Columbus, Ohio, Dean Oliver doubled his average with 17 points as the Hawkeyes (14-2, 3-1 Big Ten) floundered offensively but still had enough firepower to beat the Buckeyes (7-9, 0-3).

Geo. Wash. 78, (18) Xavier 73 (OT)

Freshman Mike King made two free throws with no time remaining in regulation, then scored six of his career-high 16 points in overtime as the Colonials (14-3, 3-1 Atlantic 10) beat the Musketeers (10-4, 2-2) in Washington.

(22) Arkansas 89, Florida 84

At Fayetteville, Ark., Kareem Reid scored 18 points in the first half and made both ends of a 1-and-1 with 24 seconds left as the Razorbacks (14-2, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) survived an impressive rally by the Gators (8-5, 2-2).