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.