This column was originally published March 19, 2004.
The dike eventually collapsed. The dragon ultimately breathed fire. The giant finally chopped down the beanstalk. Snow White had to marry Dopey. Wile E. Coyote, at last, caught the Road Runner and North Carolina REBOUNDED to win.
Not all fairy tales have happy endings. Some are grim.
But for quite a while on Thursday night the Air Force Academy was in position for the biggest victory in school history that didn’t have Gerry Faust coaching the other side.
With 12:45 remaining in the fourth game of the first day of the NCAA Tournament at The Can, the Heels still were mired in Tar against the Falcons.
Air Force had a 44-38 lead.
Anchors away, a few good men, an army of one and off they go into the wild Blue yonder.
Then Carolina took off.
“I hope people think we represented Air Force well,” coach Joe Scott said.
That the Zoomies did. North Carolina has a rich NCAA postseason past. Air Force appears in the college tournament just like clockwork every 42 years.
The Falcons just couldn’t hang with the Tar Heels on the boards Thursday night.
When it was over, North Carolina pulled down 35 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive end. Air Force finished with 21 rebounds, two on the offensive end. And one of those was a team rebound that was picked up off the floor.
At halftime Air Force had as many offensive rebounds as the people in the top row of the arena. Carolina had 11, or 11 more than the Falcons.
So often when Air Force built a fortification on defense North Carolina would miss a long shot, throw up a bad shot or fling a sling shot.
Wait. … The Tar Heels would get the rebound and stick it, or the Falcons would have to try to defend again.
“I think our work on the backboards kept us in the game in the first half, and we continued it in the second half,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said.
It’s not that North Carolina is so tall. Air Force is not.
Every time the Falcons had to scrap and scrape and hope and pray and tip and dive.
They just couldn’t do it enough times. North Carolina scored 32 points, Air Force 18, within a couple of feet of the basket. North Carolina had 22 points, Air Force 16, off turnovers. North Carolina had eight points, Air Force zero, off the fast break.
The Tar Heels caught up with the Falcons, and the differences caught up with the Falcons.
Air Force cadets are known for stamina, but four of the five starters played 40 minutes in a 40-minute game, and two players split 39 minutes.
Not one North Carolina player was on the floor for more than 34 minutes.
Williams claimed he didn’t look at the scoreboard in the first half. Thousands of Carolina fans who traveled 1,600 miles certainly were.
The visiting time was up by five points at halftime. Yes, Air Force was the visiting team. Don’t ask. The “home” team had to be worried. Air Force was more disciplined, was shooting more proficiently from the field — 50 percent to 32.3 — was playing tighter defense and was fundamentally sounder than the helter-skeltering Tar Heels.
However, in less than 90 seconds of the second half, nothing could be finer in Carolina than to go from six down to two up. Then it was 49-44 Tar Heels, and the Falcons never got closer than three.
North Carolina knew it had been stretched. “It was very difficult,” said Jawad Williams. “They slowed us down and did a great job of controlling the tempo. We couldn’t get the shots were used to getting. We just had to stay tough. They made us work for 35 seconds, and that’s something we’re not really used to.”
As usual, Air Force used a half-minute to get a shot, but, for the Tar Heels, too many possession were taking 25 to 30 seconds — and producing nothing.
But North Carolina stayed close by playing handball off the boards.
The Air Force coach, Great Scott this season as he pulled off the major upset by winning the Mountain West Conference, was more concerned by the Falcons’ turnovers — 16 to North Carolina’s 13. Williams was alarmed by the Tar Heels’ 10 turnovers in the first half “in a game of that tempo … But we cut it to three in the second half.”
The tempo belonged to Air Force in the first half, shifted to North Carolina in the second half. This should explain: Air Force 28-23, North Carolina 40-24. The Falcons wanted the game to end in the 50s. It did for them.
Nick Welch, who had his team’s only offensive rebounds, said: “It is a big story what we did all year long and what we have accomplished as a program.”
A fairy tale.
Air Force “shouldn’t allow tonight’s game to destroy what they have done this season,” Williams said. And, as in Camelot, the Falcons had several bright, shining moments (and more than 30 minutes on Thursday night).
Perhaps Air Force can rebound next season.
