CHAPEL HILL ? A victory today in its final non-conference game of the regular season will set a record for North Carolina?s longest winning streak at the Smith Center.
In order to secure their 26th consecutive home victory ? which shouldn?t prove overly problematic ? the Tar Heels must defeat a Monmouth team under the guidance of several men who are intimately familiar with finding success in the almost 26-year-old arena affectionately known as the ?Dean Dome.?
Monmouth is coached by former North Carolina point guard King Rice, who?s in his first year at the West Long Branch, N.J., school.
Two of Rice?s assistant coaches are Tar Heels from the same era ? Derrick Phelps, also a former point guard, and Brian Reese, an athletic forward during his playing career.
Phelps and Reese were starters on North Carolina?s 1993 NCAA championship team. And thus, their handiwork helped establish the current ceiling of 25 victories in a row at the Smith Center, a streak that ran from 1992-1994.
It?s a situation that has had North Carolina coach Roy Williams waxing nostalgic about the dominance his Kansas teams enjoyed at historic Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks won 62 games in a row during one stretch of his 15 seasons there.
?That?s a big home-court advantage,? Williams said. ?That?s what I want the Smith Center to be. I want people to feel like when they come in here it?s extremely hard to win.?
Even Rice, who remains memorable for the high-top fade haircut he wore and polarizing figure he cast as North Carolina player from 1987-1991.
Williams? final season as an assistant to Dean Smith was Rice?s first with the Tar Heels.
Williams was responsible for recruiting Rice out of Binghamton, N.Y., and still sends Rice?s mother a Christmas card every year.
?
North Carolina has won 55 straight home games against non-league competition. The last non-Atlantic Coast Conference opponent to capture a victory in Chapel Hill was Illinois in November 2005.
The Tar Heels went 15-0 at the Smith Center last season and are 9-0 there this season. Their last home loss came against Florida State on Feb. 24, 2010.
North Carolina is coming off a 100-62 beating of Elon University on Thursday night.
After today, the Tar Heels? next two months will be consumed by 16 ACC games.
?Obviously we can get better,? senior Tyler Zeller said. ?But I think we?re getting better. We?re being a lot more unselfish. And if we continue to do that we can be a very good team.?
Tip-off
Who: Monmouth (2-11) at No. 5 North Carolina (12-2)
When: 3 p.m. today (ESPNU)
Where: Smith Center, Chapel Hill
Series: First meeting
Source: http://www.thetimesnews.com/sports/hill-51100-mater-alma.html
lindsay lohan playboy cover shooting at virginia tech shooting at virginia tech blagojevich rod blagojevich rod blagojevich harry morgan
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.