Dec. 2, 2003

Box Score

By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer

GREENSBORO, N.C. - North Carolina's short bench wasn't a problem after all Tuesday night.

The 10th-ranked Tar Heels remained undefeated with an 88-81 victory over No. 11 Illinois in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, outlasting one of the nation's deepest teams behind Sean May's 23 points and 14 rebounds.

May, sidelined most of last season by a broken foot, was nearly unstoppable at times in the paint as coach Roy Williams used just seven players - two who were questionable with injuries - against Illinois to improve to 4-0.

May got plenty of help from Rashad McCants, who added 20 points, and Jawad Williams, who played with a hip pointer, had 18 as all five North Carolina starters logged at least 31 minutes.

Meanwhile, Raymond Felton shut down Illinois scoring leader Dee Brown, who missed his first six shots and didn't score until there was 17:36 left.

Brown had a chance to tie the score twice late with 3-pointers, but missed and finished 3-for-17 from the field for just eight points.

Deron Williams led Illinois (3-1) with 22 points, while Roger Powell added 20.

North Carolina led 79-78 before Williams sank a follow shot and McCants hit a free throw. He missed his second from the line with 46.7 seconds left, but got the rebound and the Tar Heels closed out Illinois from the foul line.

The Tar Heels hit five of their first seven shots to open the second half to build the lead to nine.

But Powell brought the Fighting Illini back with a shot in the lane and a hook to start a spurt that saw Illinois score 13 points in 3? minutes to retake the lead at 55-54 with 13:43 remaining.

It remained close until Powell picked up his fourth foul with 6:19 left and the score tied at 69.

With Powell on the bench, the Tar Heels hit four foul shots, got a follow from Jackie Manuel and a layup by McCants to go up by eight before a late charge by Illinois came up short.

Illinois came in averaging 15 turnovers, but coughed it up 14 times in the first half as North Carolina's defense picked up a notch following a close call over the weekend at Cleveland State.

Neither team led by more than four points until Illinois got sloppy again in the final minute of the period.

Jawad Williams sank a 3-pointer with 34.8 seconds left before an inbounds pass by Deron Williams was thrown away and ended up in the hands of McCants. He wasted no time drilling another shot behind the arc to get the partisan crowd into in, giving the Tar Heels a six-point lead at the break.

Illinois had trouble from the outside against North Carolina's tough defense, going 0-for-7 in the first half from 3-point range and 6 of 24 for the game.

The Fighting Illini also had trouble at the line, missing 11 of 18.