Shot at Buzzer Gives Smith Win Over Dreisell

King Rice made a driving scoop shot at the buzzer to cap No. 7 North Carolina’s 10-0 run over the final minute for an 80-79 victory over James Madison in the first round of the Maui tournament Friday night at Lahaina, Hawaii.

The game was a renewal of the coaching rivalry of North Carolina’s Dean Smith and Lefty Dreisell of James Madison. And it was like many of their great games in the Atlantic Coast Conference in the 1970s and 80s--down to the wire with a number of twists.

James Madison led, 79-70, with 1:15 left after a free throw by Fess Irvin. That was the Dukes’ last point as North Carolina, which had been suspect from the perimeter throughout the game, made a long jumper, two three-point shots and Rice’s dramatic shot for the victory, Smith’s 32nd in 42 meetings with Dreisell.

James Madison missed three front ends of 1-and-1s in the final minute, but appeared to clinch the win when William Davis stole a long pass with four seconds to play after Steve Hood missed a free throw wth eight seconds left.

But Davis stepped on the sideline, then the Tar Heels got the ball to Rice, who ducked under one player and got the shot off with defensive players all around him.

North Carolina seemed ready to run away with the game early, leading, 26-16, with 8:36 left in the first half. But the Dukes went on a 24-5 run to finish the half with a nine-point lead.

North Carolina continued to make uncharacteristic turnovers and showed a weakness from outside and James Madison’s three scorers took every advantage.

Hood, a transfer from Maryland, finished with 32 points, while Davis had 20 and Irvin, an LSU transfer, had 13. Kevin Madden led five Tar Heels in double figures with 19 points.

The Tar Heels cut it to 79-72 with 50 seconds left on a long jumper by Rick Fox, which at first was ruled a three-pointer. Hubert Davis added a three-pointer eight seconds later and Pete Chilcutt made a three-pointer with 10 seconds left.