PRESEASON NIT: Gonzaga 82 – N. Carolina 74
Gonzaga’s motto is, “Anyone, Anywhere, Anytime.” Apparently that includes second-ranked North Carolina.
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams proclaimed Gonzaga a big-time team before last night’s NIT Season Tip-Off semifinal and said he could only hope his Tar Heels could become one. Turns out he wasn’t crying wolf.
“It was a great night for our team, our program,” said Zags coach Mark Few after his team posted an 82-74 victory in front of a blue-clad, pro Tar Heel crowd at the Garden.
“Any time you can beat a program like North Carolina, it’s a great thing. We had a couple guys step up and make big plays and hold them off. They was the key.”
Unranked Gonzaga (5-0) will face Butler tomorrow night (7 p.m., ESPN2) in a matchup of so-called mid-major Bulldogs. They came in with No. 3 overall pick Adam Morrison long gone to the NBA, but they also came in with a seven-game winning streak against the ACC, and ran it to eight.
“A lot of people doubt the play of Gonzaga now that Adam’s gone. We’ve been preparing for a moment like this, and we took advantage of it,” said Jeremy Pargo, whose three-point play with 3:57 left came after UNC had cut a 16-point second-half hole to 70-68. It gave the Zags a five-point edge, a lead they never lost.
Less than two years after their championship team left en masse, UNC star center Tyler Hansbrough led a team with six McDonald’s All-Americans, but the Zags carved them up like a moist Thanksgiving turkey, shooting 57.1 percent in the second half.
Josh Heyvelt’s defense and three emphatic blocks set the tone, holding Hansbrough to eight points, a fraction of his 22.3 points-per-game average. Heyvelt had 19 points and eight rebounds, while guard Derek Raivio (21 points, eight boards) tied UNC freshman Brandon Wright (13 boards, three blocks) for game-high honors.
UNC (3-1) scored the game’s first 10 points, but the Zags took a three-point halftime lead. Leading 52-47, they scored eight straight
They still led 68-61 with 6:48 left when they went into the double-bonus. Heyvelt went to the bench with his fourth moments later, and Hansbrough cut it to 70-68 on a follow dunk the next trip down the floor. But with the Zags teetering, Pago’s driving three-point play stopped the bleeding.
“The best team won, and the coach that did the best job was on the other bench,”said Williams.
