No Letdown For No. 4 Heels
Two days removed from beating No. 2 Duke, North Carolina coach Matt Doherty was concerned about a letdown Saturday against Georgia Tech.
It wasn't even close.
Joseph Forte scored 23 points and No. 4 North Carolina eased Doherty's concerns with 23 straight points in the first half as the Tar Heels beat Georgia Tech 82-69.
"It wasn't an easy day to play on the heels of our game Thursday," Doherty said. "I was worried about our emotional state and our concentration. I knew we'd want to have a good effort, but there's sometimes a difference between wanting to have a good effort and actually playing with a good effort."
With the victory, North Carolina staked a claim to the No. 1 ranking as the only team in the top four not to lose this week.
Third-ranked Kansas lost to Missourion Monday, the Tar Heels beat Duke 80-70 on Thursday and UCLA knocked off top-ranked Stanford 79-73 earlier Saturday.
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"We heard it over the (loudspeaker), but coach Doherty was yelling at us to not look at the scoreboard," said Brendan Haywood, who blocked fivshots and harassed Georgia Tech center Alvin Jones most of the game. "We knew what was at stake."
North Carolina (19-2) won its 16th consecutive game and is 9-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time since 1986-87. It is the Tar Heels' best conference streak since winning all 14 games in 1986-87 and their first two of the 1987-88 season.
North Carolina got off to a slow start, but quickly turned the game into a rout.
Georgia Tech opened on an 11-3 run as North Carolina missed five of its first six shots, but the Tar Heels followed with a 27-2 run, including 23 straight points.
Forte hit a runner at 13:52 to start the streak, and Adam Boone ended it with a pair of free throws with 7:14 left. Forte scored seven of his 16 first-half points during the run.
Georgia Tech (12-8, 4-5) went seven minutes without scoring a basket until Tony Akins hit a 3-pointer with 6:44 left in the first half. The Yellow Jackets made just 13 of 36 shots in the half, including 3-for-12 from 3-point range.
"That run was obviously a back-breaker," Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt said. "I was just hoping we would get a basket."
North Carolina held Georgia Tech to 35 percent shooting, marking the third straight game and eighth in 10 the Tar Heels held an opponent to 40 percent or less. The Yellow Jackets were 5-of-23 from 3-point range overall.
Jones, who averaged 20.5 points in his previous five games, finished with 16 points and 18 rebounds, but was 5-for-15 and had four turnovers.
Kris Lang had 15 points for North Carolina, and Jason Capel had 11 points and 11 rebounds. Julius Peppers had 14 points.
Akins had 18 points and five assists for the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech used full-court pressure to go on an 11-2 run and pulled within 70-62 with 4:34 left, but got no closer.
"North Carolina came out and played a very good game to get the win," Hewitt said. "They were ready."
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