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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) -- North Carolina guard Ed Cota says there's
nothing planned about these big second-half performances.
| | North Carolina's Terrence Newby drives on Demetrius Hunter. |
For the second straight game, the senior came up big in the
final 20 minutes and this time it meant an 85-79 victory over
Georgetown on Tuesday night and a berth in the Maui Invitational
championship game for the Tar Heels (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP).
"They played a great first half and we played a terrible first
half," Cota said, referring to the Hoyas' 11-point halftime lead.
"I was trying some things that weren't working and was rushing
shots."
Cota was 1-for-6 from the field in the first half, had just two
assists and committed five turnovers. He took over the 82-65
opening-round win over Southern California with a great second half
and did it again in Game 2.
He finished with 20 points, seven assists and those same five
turnovers.
"Ed did a really good job of getting the tempo going in the
second half and our defense did a better job of rebounding and
getting the break going," Tar Heels coach Bill Guthridge said.
"Georgetown did a great job of keeping us standing around in the
first half and not getting the ball inside."
The Tar Heels (2-0) will meet Purdue (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) , which beat
Florida (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) 79-68, in Wednesday night's championship game. It will be
the third straight year the teams have met in a preseason
tournament. They played in the final of the Great Alaska Shootout
two years ago and the semifinals of the Preseason NIT last year
with the Tar Heels winning both.
"I guess we'll have to start comparing schedules to make sure
this doesn't keep happening," Guthridge said.
North Carolina didn't seal the win until the final seconds.
Anthony Perry's 3-pointer with 22 seconds left brought Georgetown
within 81-79. Freshman Joseph Forte made two free throws with 17
seconds left, and following a missed 3 by Kevin Braswell of the
Hoyas, Max Owens sealed the win for the Tar Heels with a dunk with
four seconds left.
"We knew we could run our offense against them and we did for
most of the game," Braswell said. "We ran it right until the
end."
It didn't look like North Carolina would get the chance to
advance to the final when Georgetown (2-1) took a 26-13 lead with
6:38 left in the first half. The Tar Heels drew to 32-26 with 1:15
left on a rebound dunk by Brendan Haywood, but the Hoyas closed the
half with a 5-0 run to lead 37-26.
Cota, who had a great second half in the Tar Heels' 82-65
opening-round win over Southern California, had five points in an
11-0 run to start the second half against Georgetown. But the
Hoyas, using their size inside, hung tough and exchanged leads with
North Carolina until there was five minutes to play.
Cota made two free throws with 5:03 left to give the Tar Heels
the lead for good at 64-62.
"Cota's good. He's experienced and I think his biggest asset is
he can penetrate and finish," Georgetown coach Craig Esherick
said. "I thought in the first half we did a better job but in the
second half he did a better job of not turning the ball over."
Center Brendan Haywood, who was saddled with foul trouble in the second half, had 20 points for the Tar Heels. Forte, who had an
impressive college debut with 24 points Monday, had 17 points and
eight rebounds.
"We don't pay attention to points," Guthridge said. "Joseph's
done a very good job. He's been solid defensively and he has hit
the open shots."
Perry finished with 18 points, Braswell had 17 and Ruben Boumtje Boumtje had 16 for Georgetown, which beat Memphis 71-55 in the
opening round.
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AUDIO/VIDEO
Brendan Haywood has the monster slam.
avi: 516 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Joseph Forte shows some finesse as he drives the lane.
avi: 743 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Ed Cota explodes to the rim for two points.
avi: 656 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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