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Princeton University Athletics
Tigers Fall To Tar Heels, 70-48
March 16, 2001 | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2001
Box Score
By BEN WALKER
AP Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS- Brendan Haywood, Joseph Forte and North Carolina made themselves right at home in the Superdome.
The Tar Heels, returning to the site of their last two NCAA championship victories, quickly ended any thought of another Princeton upset with a 70-48 win Friday night in the first round of the South Regional.
It was no contest from the start. Princeton center Nate Walton - son of former star Bill Walton - did not even jump for the opening tipoff, instead dropping into a defensive position against the 7-foot Haywood.
With Matt Doherty coaching his first game in the NCAA tournament and shouting out "Back Screen!" to warn his team against Princeton's favorite play, the second-seeded Tar Heels took an 8-0 lead and built it to 36-16 at halftime. Tigers coach John Thompson III could do little in his first NCAA tournament game. His father, former Georgetown coach John Thompson, could no nothing at all from the second row of the Princeton rooting section.
"It was gut-wrenching to sit here and watch," the older Thompson said at halftime.
The taller and much more athletic Tar Heels saw Princeton close within 12 points in the second half before breaking away behind Haywood's dunks.
North Carolina (26-6) advanced to play Penn State, a 69-59 winner over Providence, on Sunday. The teams last met in the 1981-82 season, with the Tar Heels winning on their way to the national title.
Haywood finished with 15 points. Forte, an All-American, had 13 points, 12 rebounds and a nifty behind-the-back drive for a layup.
Jason Capel and Julius Peppers each scored 12 points for the Tar Heels.
Ed Persia led Princeton (16-11) with 16 points. The 6-foot-7 Walton had nine, including a couple of hook shots like his father used to make.
Persia hit three straight 3s as the Tigers managed to pull within a dozen points early in the second half, forcing North Carolina to call timeout.
That was as close as the 15th-seeded Tigers got. They never threatened to duplicate their upset of UCLA in the 1996 or the scares they put into the likes of Georgetown, Arkansas and Villanova in past tournaments.
The Tar Heels improved to 5-0 in NCAA tourney games at the Superdome, and 7-0 overall at the building.
Doherty was on the court - he jokingly said he was wide-open at the foul line - when Michael Jordan's jumper with 17 seconds left gave North Carolina a 63-62 win over Georgetown for the 1982 title. Thompson III was a teen-ager at the time, sitting behind his dad's bench.
The Tar Heels also won the 1993 championship at the Superdome, defeating Michigan.
North Carolina made its record 27th appearance in the NCAAs and showed no ill effects from its last game, a 26-point loss to Duke for the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title.