CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – No. 4 North Carolina was worrying about
making the NCAA Tournament at this time a year ago, not
ruling it.
What a difference a year makes.
|  | | Matt Doherty's first-year success at North Carolina – the Tar Heels have won a share of the ACC title – is unparalleled in the conference. |
Joseph Forte scored 27 points and Matt Doherty became the first
coach to win or share an ACC regular-season title in his first
season as the Tar Heels beat N.C. State 76-63 Wednesday night.
"I would rather be on top than at the bottom," senior center
Brendan Haywood said. "Last year at this time we were struggling.
Now, we're just trying to see if we're going to be a No. 1 or a No.
2 seed. That's definitely a better feeling."
The Tar Heels (23-4, 13-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) captured
the No. 1 seed in next week's ACC tournament in Atlanta with the
win, shooting 57 percent to rebound from a 20-point loss to Virginia (No. 9 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) over the weekend.
No coach in the storied league – not Dean Smith, Mike
Krzyzewski, Jim Valvano, Lefty Driesell, Norm Sloan nor Everett
Case – ever had as successful first season as the 39-year-old
Doherty.
"He's not going to say anything about it because he wants us to
get the credit," Haywood said. "A lot of stuff this year has been
about him. I know he doesn't like that because he knows without
players he can't do anything. But I feel he should get a lot of
credit."
Duke could tie North Carolina in the league standings with a
victory at the Smith Center on Sunday, but North Carolina would win
the tie-breaker because of its season sweep of Maryland.
"You don't want to share anything and you especially don't want
to share it with Duke," Haywood said of the ACC regular-season
title. "If we win that game we'll have a lot of momentum heading
into the ACC tournament."
Forte had 19 points in the second half, while Ronald Curry added
a career-high 14 as the Tar Heels have now won or shared 23 ACC
regular-season crowns in the league's 48 years.
"I was patient and let the game come to me in the first half,
then I attacked in the second half," Forte said.
The Wolfpack (13-14, 5-10) played the Tar Heels even for most of
the first half and trailed by seven at the break, but poor shooting
once again did in N.C. State, which hasn't won consecutive games
since late December.
North Carolina led 46-38 with 15:08 left. N.C. State then hit
just one of its next 13 shots as the Tar Heels took control with a
12-4 run to go up by 14 points.
"There were some shots that were questionable, some that were
pretty good and probably a third category of shots that looked
pretty good, but it's hard to estimate the impact of Brendan
Haywood around the basket," said Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek, who
fell to 1-11 against the Tar Heels.
Forte had a three-point play and hit a baseline floater during
the end of the spurt.
N.C. State never got it under double digits the rest of the way
in losing for the seventh straight time to North Carolina – the longest streak by the Tar Heels against the Wolfpack since 1981-83.
Ron Kelley, plagued with knee problems for much of the last two
seasons, had his best game of the year for N.C. State, scoring 10
points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
The loss means the Wolfpack will be the seventh seed in the ACC
tournament and play second-seeded Duke.
The teams combined for 26 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes of
their 197th meeting. It was similar to the first one a month ago in
Raleigh in which each club posted season-low point totals in a
60-52 North Carolina victory.
The Tar Heels took more than 12 minutes to recover offensively
from a miserable 24-point second half against the Cavaliers on
Sunday, turning it over 10 times in 10½ minutes and scoring just 12
points to fall behind by five.
"I think our heads were right," Doherty said. "I know people
were trying to make some things out of different comments (after
the Virginia loss), but our team was together. If you didn't see
that tonight then you weren't watching."
But the Wolfpack had turnover problems of its own over the last
6:08 of the half, coughing it up seven times as the Tar Heels used
a 16-3 run to grab the halftime lead.
Curry's 11 first-half points matched his season high as he hit
all three shots from the field and his five free throws.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
North Carolina State Clubhouse
North Carolina Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Joseph Forte steps in front of a N.C. State pass and takes it the distance for the slam.
avi: 1208 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ronald Curry feeds Julius Peppers who elevatues for a one-handed monster jam.
avi: 992 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ronald Curry comes up with the steal and motors the other way for the layup.
avi: 992 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ron Kelley's second effort pays off as he scores the hoop and the foul.
avi: 959 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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