March 21, 2008

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• 2008 Postseason ACCtion Central

McClinton, Canes Top Gaels, 78-64

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Jack McClinton is now a star in the state of Arkansas - and not because his last name sounds sort of familiar around these parts.

Instead, McClinton dazzled the locals with his quick drives to the basket and long 3-pointers, scoring a career-high 38 points in seventh-seeded Miami's 78-64 win over 10th-seeded Saint Mary's on Friday.

And here's a scary thought: McClinton might not have been at full strength.

"I had a fever a couple of days before the game," he said. "Our trainers got us on the meds and I felt pretty good for the game today."

Sure looked like it. Miami trailed 32-27 at halftime. In the second half, the score was McClinton 32, Saint Mary's 32.

"Second half I was just trying to be more aggressive, drive the ball," McClinton said. "Once I made a couple of shots, the defense was kind of on their heels."

Playing just across the Arkansas River from Bill Clinton's presidential library, McClinton scored 10 straight points for Miami early in the second half, part of a 25-5 run that gave the Hurricanes a 52-38 lead. Miami (23-10) missed all six of its 3-point attempts in the first half, but McClinton alone made three in the second.

Hurricanes coach Frank Haith now faces a second-round matchup with second-seeded Texas in the South Regional on Sunday. Haith was an assistant for the Longhorns under Rick Barnes before taking over at Miami. Texas beat 15th-seeded Austin Peay 74-54 in the game immediately following Miami's.

UNC Overpowers Mount St. Mary's, 113-74

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Marcus Ginyard grabbed the loose ball near midcourt and sprinted in for an uncontested dunk. Instead, North Carolina's normally steady junior bricked the ball into the front of the rim, landed on his tail and heard the laughter coming from his bench.

Ginyard could only smile as he scrambled to his feet.

"There's really nothing else for me to do at this point but to laugh about it," he said.

Of course, it was easy to laugh it off with his team up big and rolling to one of the storied program's best offensive showings in the NCAA tournament.

Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson each had 21 points Friday night to help the top-seeded Tar Heels cruise by Mount St. Mary's 113-74 in the first round of the East Regional, a game that quickly turned into a crowd-pleasing romp for the thousands of blue-clad fans who filled an arena just a short drive from the Chapel Hill campus.

Wayne Ellington added 16 points for the Tar Heels (33-2), who have won 12 straight and continued their near-perfect run in NCAA games played in their home state. North Carolina improved to 22-1 in those games and advanced to Sunday's second round to face the Arkansas-Indiana winner.

Tigers Fall to Wildcats, 75-69

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -Villanova coach Jay Wright figures someone has to come up with a name for what happened Friday in Tampa. He even offered one up: "Tampa Turmoil or something," he said.

Scottie Reynolds scored 21 points, Corey Fisher added 17 and 12th-seeded Villanova gave this NCAA tournament pod its fourth upset in as many games with a 75-69 victory over No. 5 seed Clemson in the first round of the Midwest Region on Friday night.

It was the perfect ending for a crazy day in Tampa, the bracket-busting town that should be called Upset City after Friday's opening round.

The Wildcats trailed 36-18 with 5 minutes to play in the first half. But they started hitting from 3-point range - Reynolds made his first three 3s after the break - and slowly sliced into the big lead.

Clemson's Demontez Stitt tied it at 66 with two more free throws with 1:55 to go, but the Wildcats retook the lead by making 9-of-10 from the stripe over the final 1:37.

Stitt led the Tigers with 14 points. K.C. Rivers Jr. added 12, and Oglesby finished with 11.