Run Down By A Ford

"Whatever happens against Maryland, you're going to see us play very tense and with a lot of emotion, the way we did last year," said Towe. "We'll do the extra things to win."

Near the end of the season rumors popped up that Wolfpack players were at each other's throats. "That's not right," protested Towe. "If anything, we're closer than ever because of having gone through tough times." State indeed was inspired and cohesive against Maryland. Thompson scored 30 points in 27 minutes, and Towe directed the offense and played his usual sniping defense as the Pack edged ahead. Then, with about 10 minutes left in the game, Thompson fell to the floor, his legs knotted with severe cramps. Despite his absence, State built a 15-point lead with less than four minutes left.

Suddenly Maryland woke up. The Terps went into a pressing defense, picked up turnovers as if they were jelly beans spilling from a sack with a hole in it and also got the ball when State squandered four straight bonus free-throw opportunities. With nine seconds to play, Maryland's Mo Howard put in two free throws and Maryland had an 85-84 lead.

When State came down for its final shot, Rivers went up for a hurried jumper, spotted Carr underneath and fed him a pass. Carr put in the layup, was fouled and made the free throw for an 87-85 victory that sent Maryland home to think about next year's tournament.

During the Tar Heels' 76-71 victory in the other semifinal game, Ford tap-danced his way through the Clemson defense and dropped in 15 of 18 free throws. Last year he scored 48 points in one half of a high school game, but friends say that last summer, seeking perfection, he practiced 12 to 15 hours a day at his home in Rocky Mount, N.C.

The son of schoolteachers, Ford is a good student. "You can tell him something once and he picks it right up," says the coach. It also helps that Ford often goes over to the Carolina gymnasium late in the evenings to practice some more by himself.

Even individuals as good as Ford tend to get submerged in Smith's system. Billy Cunningham, Charlie Scott, Bob McAdoo and Bobby Jones all blossomed after they reached the pros. Smith substitutes freely, running in a complete new team at times, and spreads the scoring around. "The pressure's not on me at all because we have other guys who can score," says Forward Walter Davis, the team's best shooter.

Davis is a sophomore, another member of Smith's Kiddy Korps, and when he enrolled at North Carolina some people predicted he would be another David Thompson. Smith astutely responded by putting Davis on the junior varsity during preseason drills his freshman year.

Last week he was on Thompson, and State's ailing star made only seven of 21 shots and had just five rebounds. "He was off," said Davis in sympathy. "If he hadn't been hurting, those shots would have gone in, and then everybody would have said I played bad defense."

State's rebounding also was diminished when Spence picked up his third foul early in the first half. The Wolfpack was left with only young Carr to go against North Carolina's big three of 6'9" Mitch Kupchak, 6'10" Tom Lagarde and 6'10" Ed Stahl. By halftime the Tar Heels had made 15 of 24 field-goal attempts and led 41-35.