The Associated Press

Fans storming the court has become almost commonplace in college basketball this season with it happening for wins that just don’t seem to deserve it.

Friday, January 28, 2000

Fans storming the court has become almost commonplace in college basketball this season with it happening for wins that just don’t seem to deserve it.

Excuse the fans in Chapel Hill on Thursday night, because they had a very good reason – the losing streak was over.

North Carolina avoided its first five-game losing streak in 48 years with a 75-63 victory over No. 22 Maryland.

”We want to remember this feeling so we can taste it again,” said North Carolina’s Jason Capel, who had 11 points and 12 rebounds.

It had been a while since the Tar Heels (12-8, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) had won. The four consecutive losses matched their longest losing streak since the 1991-92 season and the last time they dropped five straight was the end of the 1951-52 season.

”There was no way we were going to lose this game,” Capel added. ”We have worked too hard and we deserve this. We came out and played for (coach Bill Guthridge) and the fans and had a good time in the second half.”

So did the fans after the game when they poured onto the court at the Smith Center. The game was pushed back 24 hours because of a storm that left 20 inches of snow in the area Monday night, and many of North Carolina’s regular fans were absent.

That meant students, the majority of which sit in the upper deck of the Smith Center, were allowed on the lower level and the increased noise seemed to rattle the Terrapins early.

”Not in this atmosphere, we weren’t going to put Carolina away tonight,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said of his team’s 11-point first-half lead that was still seven at halftime.

Center Brendan Haywood led North Carolina, which had lost six of its last nine, by matching his career high with 24 points.

Juan Dixon had 22 for the Terrapins (13-6, 2-4), who fell behind 59-50 after North Carolina went on a 14-0 run.

”We’ve played 19 games now and we should be more consistent than we were in the second half,” Williams said of his team’s 26 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes. ”We just broke down.”

No. 1 Cincinnati 75, Louisville 65

Freshman DerMarr Johnson hit his first eight shots, including five 3-pointers, and scored all 21 of his points in the first half as the visiting Bearcats (19-1, 7-0 Conference USA) won their 11th straight and beat Louisville for the sixth straight time. Nate Johnson had 19 points for the Cardinals (11-7, 3-4), who never got closer than seven down the stretch.

No. 2 Stanford 92, Washington 62

Mark Madsen had 18 points and Casey Jacobsen added 17, including four 3-pointers, as the Cardinal (16-1, 5-1 Pac-10) cruised at home, leading by as many as 45 points. Will Perkins had 20 for the Huskies (6-13, 1-6), who lost their sixth straight.

No. 6 Connecticut 64, Providence 50

Albert Mouring scored eight of his 20 points in a 23-9 first-half run for the Huskies (14-4, 3-3), who got their first Big East home win of the season.

UConn played most of the second half without junior point guard Khalid El-Amin and senior forward Kevin Freeman, both sidelined with injuries in the second half. Both players said they hoped to be back for Sunday’s game against Seton Hall.

Karim Shabazz had 17 points for the Friars (8-11, 1-5), who lost their fifth straight.

No. 9 Michigan St. 59, Northwestern 29

Morris Peterson had 19 points for the visiting Spartans (14-5, 5-1 Big Ten), who took control with a 25-0 first-half run and held the Wildcats (4-14, 0-6) to seven field goals in the entire game. It was Michigan State’s second win over Northwestern in five days, the other being by 24 points.

No. 13 Tulsa 89, Texas-El Paso 71

Reserve David Shelton had 21 points for the visiting Golden Hurricane (20-1, 5-0 Western Athletic Conference), who won their 13th straight and became the first Division I team to reach the 20-win mark this season. Jarvis Mullahon had 18 points for the Miners (10-8, 1-4).

Clemson 59, No. 21 North Carolina St. 42

Will Solomon scored 15 points and the Tigers (7-12, 1-5 ACC) snapped a six-game losing streak with the home win. Archie Miller had 15 points for the Wolfpack (13-4, 4-3), who were within 42-38 with 7:35 left but didn’t score again until there were 12 seconds to play.

Oregon 68, No. 23 Southern California 67

Alex Scales scored 18 points and A.D. Smith added 15 for the Ducks (14-3, 5-1 Pac-10). Brian Scalabrine had 18 points for the visiting Trojans (12-6, 5-1), who had a seven-game winning streak snapped and were off to their best ever conference start. Scalabrine missed a jumper with 10 seconds left, and after a missed free throw by Oregon, the Trojans turned the ball over.