Thursday, December 2, 1999 - The Michigan Daily - 15A
MSU smokes 'Heels on Tobacco Road
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - A
Final Four team from a season ago, No.
8;Michigan State wasn't about to be
intimidated playing at No. 2 North
lina.
This is as good a place as I've ever
layed in," coach Tom Izzo said after
chigan State handed the Tar Heels
4iir-first loss in a home opener in 71
ers, ,86-76, last night.
"One advantage of playing in the Big
en is we play in some tough arenas. We.
rito play with some toughness. I always
av that good players don't win games,
ough players win games,' he said.
Morris Peterson scored a career-high
oints as the Spartans (4-1) stopped
,orth Carolina's 55-game non-confer-
nce home winning streak.
Peterson made 12 of 18 shots and also
ad five of Michigan State's 15 steals.
"We got a chance to show the country
v. could come down here and beat one
igers ha
time wil
STATE COLLEGE (AP) - Joe
Crispin scored a team-high 24 points
and hit a game-clinching bucket from
just.beyond the free-throw line as
Penn State beat Clemson 85-75 last
t.
rispin, who shot 7-for-14 from the
floor, answered a late six-point
Clemson run with 1:32 remaining in
the game to put Penn State (4-0) ahead
for good. Crispin was fouled on the
shot and sank the free throw that
stopped the Tigers' (2-4) comeback
run.
Titus Ivory had 22 points and Jarrett
Stephens had 19 for the Nittany Lions.
Penn State, playing Clemson for
the first time as part of the Big
Ten/ACC Challenge, relied on good
outside shooting (12-for-29 from
beyond the arc) and racked up a dozen
3-pointers, one short of a team record
set in 1996 against Iowa.
Will Solomon led all scorers with a
career-high 37 points on 13-for-27
shooting for Clemson.
But, even his output couldn't get
ison closer than four points in the
s nd half. Edward Scott added 18
points for the visitors,
In the first half, Crispin and Ivory
hit three three-pointers apiece to lead
the Nittany Lions, who shot 8-for-16
(.500) from long range. Penn State
cruised to a 34-27 lead at the midway
mark.
of the best teams in the country," said
Peterson.
The Tar Heels, coming off three
impressive wins in the Maui Invitational,
last lost a home opener in 1928 to South
Carolina. They were defeated for only
the sixth time in 90 such openers in
Chapel Hill.
"The best team won and by far the
best-coached team won," said North
Carolina coach Bill Guthridge, whose
club was out-rebounded 43-28 and shot
33 percent in the second half.
"Coach Izzo had his team very well
prepared and Coach Guthridge didn't
have his team very well prepared. We
were outplayed and out-coached. I
thought they were tremendous," he said.
The meeting of top 10 powers - part
of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge - was
played without Michigan State star point
guard Mateen Cleaves, still sidelined
with a stress fracture in hiq right foot.
ve bear of
th Lions
FLORIDA STATE 60,
NORTHWESTERN 46: Delvon
Arrington and Adrian Crawford
scored 12 points each and Florida
State shot 50 percent in a 60-46 win
over Northwestern last night in the
final game of the ACC/Big Ten
Challenge.
Damous Anderson added 11 points
for Florida State (3-2), which hit 25-
of-50 shots and out-rebounded
Northwestern 35-25.
Steve Lepore scored 18 points to
lead Northwestern (1-4).
The Seminoles led 31-17 at half-
time and pushed the lead to 17 before
Lepore hit a 3-pointer with 16:32 left
to end a Northwestern field-goal
drought that lasted more than 14 min-
utes.
Lepore sank three more 3-point
shots over the next 3 1/2 minutes, and
his third cut the Florida State lead to
41-32 with 13:03 remaining.
Winston Blake converted a three-
point play with 9:56 left to cut the lead
to eight at 45-37. But Justin Mott
scored inside with 9:19 left and
Arrington hit a 3-point shot a minute
later to restore Florida State's double-
digit lead.
The Seminoles hit their first six
shots and raced to a 13-2 lead in the
opening 4:26 of the game. But David
Newman capped a 10-4 Northwestern
run with a jumper from the free-throw
line with 10:48 remaining to pull the
"When they get Cleaves back I can't
imagine how good they'll be," said
Guthridge.
The 6-foot-7 Peterson was sharp from
various places on the court, going 7-for-
10 from the field in the first 20 minutes
as the Spartans led by as many as 12
"We said we had to get him off early
and we ran a lot of stuff for him and he
really got some shots and good looks,"
said Izzo. "I thought that was a big key.
Morris is a good player and unselfish
player. It ranks up there with some of the
better performances of my career as an
assistant and head coach."
Peterson, whose previous career best
was 27 against Iowa last season, then
sank his first three shots of the second
half as Michigan State took control.
While the Spartans seemed to grab
every rebound and loose ball from the
Tar Heels, they also hit nine of their first
13 shots from beyond the arc, including
three straight 3-pointers to take a 65-48
lead with 11:52 left.
Meanwhile, the Tar Heels, who shot
58 percent in their opening three wins,
got only three field goals in the opening
12 1/2 minutes of the second half before
staging a late comeback.
The Tar Heels closed to 71-65 with
4:18 left after a technical against Izzo
and had the ball, but a turnover led to a
layup by Andre Hutson and Peterson hit
a follow shot to quiet the crowd.
Joseph Forte led the Tar Heels with 19
points, while Max Owens added 18.
North Carolina started slow but still
led 20-18 midway through the half
before th e Spartans began to mix their
inside muscle with strong outside shoot-
ing. Mhigan State got a pair of 3-point-
ers from Peterson and one from former
Duke starter Mike Chappell during a 15-
4 run to grab a 10-point lead and led 44-
36 at intermission.
AP PHOTO
Forward Morris Peterson led Michigan State to a victory over No. 2 North Carolina
by scoring a career-high 31 points.
Wolfpack edges
Purdue in last minute
ACC wins Challenge, 5-4
Yesterdar s results:
Michigan 80, Georgia Tech 77 - See coverage, page 13A
N.C. State 61, Purdue 59 - The Boilermakers missed a last sec-
ond shot that would've tied the game and given the Big Ten the
Big Ten/ACC Challenge Commissioner's Cup.
Penn State 85, Clemson 75 - Willie Solomon scored 37
points for the Tigers, but it wasn't enough as Penn State tri-
umphed in State College.
Michigan State 86, North Carolina 76 - The Spartans held off
a late run by the Tar Heels to record the victory over No. 2 North
Carolina. Michigan State forward Morris Peterson was named as a
possible first-team AI-Dicky V member by scoring 30 points.
Florida State 60, Northwestern 46 - With a chance to sal-
yage Big Ten pride, Northwestern got scalped by the Seminoles
in a game that was never as close as the final score indicates.
Tuesday's results:
Wake Forest 67, Wisconsin 48
Maryland 83, Iowa 65
Duke 72, Illinois 69
Minnesota 74, Virginia 62
WEST LAFAYETTE (AP) - Justin
Gainey credited North Carolina State
teammate Ron Kelly for the winning
3-pointer with 15.2 seconds left.
"Kelley read my defender all the
way and screened him. The defender
came underneath and Kelley stepped
out. We did not communicate any-
thing," Gainey said after the
Wolfpack's 61-59 victory over No. 19
Purdue last night in the ACC/Big Ten
Challenge.
"I was open. It was a shot that I
know I can hit. I worked hard all sum-
mer on my shooting and conditioning."
The lead was the only one the
Wolfpack had in the second half as N.C.
State (4-0) battled back from a 12-point
deficit. Purdue (2-2) made just two
field goals in the final 13 minutes.
"It was a broken play," Wolfpack
coach Herb Sendek said of the 3-point-
er. "He was able to create some space
and knock down the shot."
The loss was the first at home in a
non-conference game for Purdue since
Nov. 30, 1996. The Boilermakers had
won 42 of their previous 43 non-con-
ference home games at Mackey Arena.
"It was the ugliest game I've ever
seen," Purdue coach Gene Keady said.
"Even if we had won, what in the
world was going on? Our passing judg-
ment was undescrible. There's not any
word in the dictionary to describe this
game. If I coached like that in the early
80s, I'd be fired my second year. It's
ridiculous. What is going on? I don't
know."
N.C. State was only 3-of-19 from 3-
point range until Gainey's shot gave
the Wolfpack a 60-59 lead. Reserve
John Allison missed a wild hook shot
for Purdue, and Mike Robinson fouled
Kelley battling for the rebound.
Carson Cunningham then tried to
drive, but the attempt turned into
Purdue's 26th turnover of the game.
Jaraan Cornell led Purdue with 16
points, and Cunningham had all 15 of
his points in the second half. Robinson
had a career-high 14 rebounds.
Until Gainey's 3-pointer, the
Wolfpack had led only once at 16-15.
Purdue then moved ahead with seven
straight points.
Cunningham scored nine straight
points in less than two minutes, spark-
ing the Boilermakers to a 47-35 lead
with 13:17 to play -- its biggest of the
night. He hit two consecutive jumpers,
a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer.
For a possible explanation of why
species become extinct, see...
Wildcats to within five.
Newman's jumper was the last field
goal of the half for the Wildcats, and
Mott scored inside with 2:03 left to
give Florida State its biggest lead of
the first half at 31-15.