Redmen Take Tar Heels To The Hall

November 20, 1982

Men's Basketball

St. John's - 78 North Carolina - 74 (OT)

Twenty-seven years ago today, St. John's opened the college basketball season by edging defending national champion North Carolina 78-74 in overtime in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic in Springfield Massachusetts.

Senior guard Kevin Williams rallied the No.19 Redmen, who trailed 63-58 with 1:30 remaining in the second half. The 6-3 reserve hit a side jumper to cut it to 63-60 with a minute left. After a missed free throw by UNC's Matt Doherty, senior forward David Russell cut the deficit to one with a driving dunk.

With ten seconds remaining, junior forward Sam Perkins hit the front end of a one-and-one to make it 64-62. "When Sam made his first and gave them a two-point lead I said to myself, 'the game is not over yet,' recalled Williams. "My job was to box Perkins out. He missed, I got the rebound, and I instinctively ran down the court. Normally, I would have called a timeout, but we were out, so I ran down knowing that when I got to the elbow I was going to shoot."

Williams' 15 foot pull-up hit nothing but bottom. 64-all with five minutes of bonus basketball at the Springfield Civic Center. The Johnnies took an early overtime lead and never looked back at the No.3 Tar Heels. ''Now we're in Bloomingdale's window,'' said coach Lou Carnesecca. ''We were in Macy's last week.''

Sophomore guard Chris Mullin led SJU with 22 points, including 14 in the first half. "I don't want to play against guys who shoot 10-12 from the floor," North Carolina coach Dean Smith said. Sophomore sensation Michael Jordan led all scorers with 25 points.

 
SJU-North Carolina Box Score