University of Virginia Library

Carolina Beats Virginia

Tar Heels Conquer Cavaliers
Before Partisan UNC Crowd

By Paul Larsen

Brief thoughts of one of basketball's
biggest upsets this season
were squelched by the North Carolina
Tar Heels last night as they
overcame an early lead by Virginia
to trounce the Cavaliers,
108-64.

Although Virginia jumped off to
a quick lead and was able to
retain it in the early portion of
the contest, any hope of an upset
was soon dispelled as the Tar
Heels began to work together and
execute their game plan with near-perfect
precision.

The Cavaliers grabbed the tap-off
and immediately took command
when Norm Carmichael
scored the opening basket. North
Carolina was unable to find itself
for the first several minutes, in
which time Virginia was able to
mount a 12-6 advantage. But the
Cavaliers lost their footing and
their early fire was dampened by
an oncoming Tar Heel blitz. In
the next ten minutes North Carolina
pushed through 32 points to
the Cavaliers' ten.

Coach Dean Smith's charges so
overwhelmed their Virginia counterparts
that the Cavaliers made
mistake after mistake, turning the
ball over to North Carolina an
incredible 28 times. But at the
same time it was easily seen why
North Carolina is currently the
number three team in the nation,
as Coach Smith exhibited his fine
bench strength in the persons of
Joe Brown, Ed Fogler, Jerry
Tuttle, and Ralph Fletcher.

Virginia's poor showing was
mostly a result of inexperience
and an extremely cold hand. Under
the pressure of the Tar Heel barrage
in the first half, Coach Gibson's
five lost the ball 16 times.
And when they were able to keep
possession of the ball, they were
unable to hit any, consistency in
their scoring.

It has become increasingly apparent
in each game how important
center Norm Carmichael is to the
success of the Cavaliers. In last
night's game the middle man was
called for three early fouls and was
forced to sit out most of the first
half. Although he left, when his
team was still in the lead, his
absence changed the complexion
of the game and he returned when
his team was at a 20 point disadvantage.

In the preliminary game, the Tar
Babies defeated the Cavayearlings,
80-60.