Nov. 22, 2003
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Roy Williams was back, and No. 9 North Carolinamight be, too.
The storied program lost a combined 36 games the last two seasons, but theTar Heels gave their new coach an impressive victory in his debut, beating OldDominion 90-64 Saturday night.
ODU freshman Abdi Lidonde led the Monarchs with a career high 15 points inhis college debut. He hit five of eight from three point range. SeniorJohn Waller (Richmond, Va.) added 14 points and hauled in nine rebounds. FreshmanValdas Vasylius (Klaipeda, Lithuania) scored nine points and Arnaud Dahi(Ivory Coast) scored seven.
Rashad McCants had 18 points and a career-high eight assists against an OldDominion squad with eight players who were either freshmen or sophomores.
Sean May, who missed most of last season with a stress fracture in his leftfoot, was back in form with 17 points, seven rebounds and three blocks as theTar Heels shot 61 percent (37-61).
The Tar Heels shot the most 3-pointers in the ACC last season, but weren'tfiring away much from the outside under Williams, who yelled repeatedly fromthe bench to "get the ball inside."
And North Carolina's defensive pressure was evident from the start as OldDominion (0-1) missed 22 of its first 29 shots, turned it over 11 times and hadsix shots blocked in the opening 20 minutes to fall into a deep hole.
Felton's three-point play was part of a 22-6 run that gave North Carolina a17-point cushion midway through an opening period in which the Tar Heels shot59.3 percent.
North Carolina pushed its lead to 22 by the first TV timeout of the secondhalf, after Jawad Williams scored on a pair of layups and May added a hook shotand a fast-break basket.
ODU returns to action next Saturday when they host 13th ranked St. Joseph'sin the Ted Constant Convocation Center.