No. 11 North Carolina captures Maui crown
Associated Press
LAHAINA, Maui — Raymond Felton did everything to get North Carolina another Maui Invitational championship.
Michael Conroy • Associated Press
The junior point guard ran the offense as he always does, defended the opponent's best backcourt player as he always does and even threw in a couple of highlight-tape moves in the 11th-ranked Tar Heels' 106-92 victory over Iowa last night.
North Carolina's C.J. Hooker, Melvin Scott and Jawad Williams celebrate after beating Iowa, 106-92.
Oh, and he did it all one day after his hurting his left wrist.
"I was in pain the whole time, but I just forgot about it," Felton said. "I love my teammates to death, the coaching staff, Coach Williams. I'll always give them 100 percent."
It was the fourth Maui Invitational title game in as many appearances for the Tar Heels (3-1) and they headed back to the Mainland with a second championship trophy. And even though Rashad McCants had 22 points, Felton was the main reason, so he was selected the tournament MVP.
His stats weren't overly impressive — 13 points, nine assists, five rebounds and four steals — but it was the defensive job he did on Iowa's Jeff Horner that set the tone for the Tar Heels.
"We talked about how Horner is the key to their whole team because he shoots with such range he spreads your defense," Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. "Whoever is guarding him has to keep him in front of them but be close enough to do something. Raymond is our best on the ball defender and his play was important to us on both ends of the court. He established the tempo on the offensive end and he's difficult to dribble penetrate against on the defensive end."
Horner averaged 22.5 points in the first two games for the Hawkeyes (3-1), shooting 22 for 40 from the field. Felton, playing with a bandage on his left wrist, just wouldn't let Horner get the ball where he wanted it.
Horner finished 6 of 8 for 18 points.
"I think more than what Felton did defensively was how he broke our defense down," Iowa coach Steve Alford said. "He was tremendous. He made shots and he does such a great job of setting everybody else up. Nine assists and one turnover. He had a very, very good game and he's as good a point guard as we've played."
It was the second Maui Invitational title for North Carolina coach Williams, who won with Kansas in 1996.
No. 12 Louisville 82, Stanford 67: Taquan Dean scored 30 points, including 13 during a second-half run that gave the Cardinals (3-1) a 68-56 lead they never gave up in beating the Cardinal (2-2) for fifth place in the Maui Invitational. It was Louisville's first win this season over a Division I team.
No. 15 Texas 95, Tennessee 70: Freshman guard Daniel Gibson scored 19 points and started a run of six consecutive second-half 3-pointers as the Longhorns (3-1) beat the Volunteers (1-2) to claim third place in the Maui Invitational.
Brigham Young 77, Chaminade 56: Jared Jensen scored 16 points, and Keena Young and Mike Hall each had 14 points and six rebounds for the Cougars (1-2), who defeated the host Silverswords (1-3) to capture seventh place in the Maui Invitational.
