Heels roll to 19th win, advance to NIT quarterfinals

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- This may only be the Owens Corning NIT, but the spirit of winning basketball is alive and well at North Carolina.

Melvin Scott had a career-high 20 points and Raymond Felton added 15 points and 14 assists as the Tar Heels beat Wyoming 90-74 Monday night in front of a rowdy crowd to advance to the tourney's third round.

"Man, we've got the best crowd in the world. It was crazy, just crazy,'' Scott said of the 20,235 raucous fans who filled the Smith Center. "We owe them a lot because they've been behind us 100 percent even though we've had a roller coaster season. They never gave up on us. With fans like that you are bound and destined to play like we did.''

"I'm sure Wyoming has never played in an environment like this,'' added senior Will Johnson.

North Carolina (19-15) will face Georgetown at home Wednesday night with a chance to advance to New York and win 20 games for the 32nd time in the last 33 years.

"Off an 8-20 season last year, winning 20 would be a great comeback,'' Felton said.

Rashad McCants added 20 points as North Carolina hit 12-of-26 from 3-point range and forced 19 turnovers.

Felton's assist total broke the freshman school record of 13 set by Jeff Lebo in 1985 against Manhattan, while Scott's previous high point total was 19 in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.

"It's just a matter of me getting the opportunity, that's what I'm all about, taking advantage of the opportunity,'' said Scott, who has started the last three games because of an injury to Jackie Manuel.

Donta Richardson led Wyoming with 20 points.

It was a wild scene before and during the game. Thousands of students lined up more than three hours before tipoff to get prime locations close to the action -- seats normally reserved for athletic boosters. Once inside, many of the students never sat down, yelling for every basket or blocked shot.

"How about that crowd?'' coach Matt Doherty said. "That's a credit to Dean Smith, Bill Guthridge and all the great players and great teams we've had here before us -- and to our guys for the way they play. I think we've captured the hearts of a lot of people in this state.''

Wyoming coach Steve McClain couldn't believe the atmosphere.

"Somebody was telling me the students don't normally get to sit down there,'' McClain said. "I'll tell you what, it was about as loud in here as any building as I've ever been in.

"I know sometimes things can't change, but I would say they would be pretty hard to beat if their students could always sit down there where they can get into the game. It's fun to play in that environment, but the home team really feeds off that kind of environment. When you make a mistake it's doubled.''

But in typical North Carolina fashion this season, the Tar Heels made their faithful sweat it out after going up by 22 with 16:36 left.

The Cowboys (21-11) used an 18-0 run over a six-minute span to work their way back into it, cutting the score to 61-58 with plenty of time left.

But Jawad Williams hit a 3-pointer, Felton had a steal and fastbreak layup and then fed David Noel for a dunk in span of a minute as the Tar Heels went back up by double digits.

Wyoming pulled within eight with 7:48 left before Scott hit a pair of 3-pointers and a layup in a span of 38 seconds to help seal it.

The Tar Heels were hot out of the gate, hitting nine of their first 14 shots to go up 24-14.

A 14-0 run late in the first half then broke the game open as McCants scored on a three-point play and layup, Felton and Williams hit 3-pointers and Will Johnson added four points for a 23-point cushion.

The Tar Heels shot 55 percent in the first half, going 7-for-12 beyond the arc as the Cowboys turned it over nine times and had five shots blocked by a swarming North Carolina defense.

"We fought human nature at the half with a young team to maintain our lead against a good team for 40 minutes,'' Doherty said. "But I felt our kids were always in control and never lost their poise.''