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Maryland goalkeeper Harry Alford made 20 saves and held North Carolina to a season-low four goals, and the homestanding Terrapins rebounded from their first loss of the season with a 9-4 win against the Tar Heels this afternoon. Brendan Healy, Joe Walters and Michael Phipps each had a pair of goals to pace the Maryland offense, and Michael Hartofolis added a career-high three assists. The Terps improved to 5-1 with the win. The Tar Heels (1-5) were held scoreless until five minutes before halftime, but got within 5-4 in the final quarter before Maryland put them away.

COLLEGE PARK - Jamar Smith scored 22 points, John Gilchrist had 20 and Maryland cranked up its defense in the second half to defeat No. 9 North Carolina, 90-84, last night at Comcast Center. After yielding a season-high 49 points in the first half, Maryland (10-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) put the clamps on a powerful offense that surpassed 100 points in each of its first two conference games. Sean May scored 18 points and Raymond Felton added 16 for the Tar Heels (10-3, 1-2), who have lost five straight regular- season games to Maryland.

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - In a battle of the Atlantic Coast Conference's two leading lacrosse scorers, Maryland's Joe Walters was a winner - twice. Walters, the league leader in total points, had four goals yesterday at Fetzer Field to top three by North Carolina's Jed Prossner, the ACC's leading goal scorer. And thanks to Walters and freshman Mike Brown, it was the No. 2 Terrapins who won, 10-9, over the fourth-ranked Tar Heels to remain unbeaten. Walters and Brown combined for three fourth-quarter goals that turned an 8-7 deficit into a 10-8 lead, helping Maryland counter a North Carolina rally and hang on for the crucial road win. North Carolina attackman Mike McCall scored with 1:37 remaining to pull the Tar Heels (5-2, 1-1 ACC)

Sophomore Anna Wilson finished sixth in the all-around competition with a 39.20 score, leading North Carolina to its first East Atlantic Gymnastics League championship last night at Towson Center. The Tar Heels won their first EAGL title with a 196.425 score, setting a meet record, as well as a school record. Defending champion West Virginia was runner-up (196.025), and Maryland took third place (194.825), followed by North Carolina State (194.725), New Hampshire (194.375), Pittsburgh (194.

DENVER - It used to be North Carolina advanced to the Sweet 16 every year by sending schools such as Texas home. Things aren't what they used to be. Texas held off a fast-and-furious North Carolina, even getting a clutch free throw in the final seconds by a freshman from Raleigh, N.C., to defeat the Tar Heels, 78-75, in a second-round Atlanta Regional game last night at the Pepsi Center. North Carolina rallied from second-half deficits of 13 and 10 points to make it a game in the end. With eight seconds left, Texas freshman P.J. Tucker, who grew up about 15 minutes from Chapel Hill, N.C., but ultimately chose Texas over North Carolina, made one of two free throws to put the Longhorns up by three.

DURHAM, N.C. - In 1998, North Carolina center Brendan Haywood was just a freshman when he missed two free throws in the closing seconds of a two-point loss to Duke. Last night, in the latest edition of this rivalry, Haywood showed just how far he has come. The 7-foot senior center had ice in his veins with 1.2 seconds left as he stroked two free throws to give the fourth-ranked Tar Heels an 85-83 victory over No. 2 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Haywood was sent to the free-throw line when referee Mike Wood called a foul on Duke senior Shane Battier as the Blue Devils' tri-captain tried to steal a full-court pass and collided with the Tar Heels' center.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It took awhile for North Carolina to remind Southern California who it was last night, but the Tar Heels certainly did. For nearly 30 minutes, Carolina struggled as USC and its spectacular freshman, Taj Gibson, shined. Then, having been outplayed in virtually every facet, the Tar Heels showed why they are a No. 1 seed and why they have advanced past this stage so many times. North Carolina defeated fifth-seeded USC, 74-64, in an East Regional semifinal before 19,557 at the Meadowlands.

Top-ranked North Carolina waited for Tyler Hansbrough to make history, then cruised to its latest lopsided victory. Hansbrough scored 20 points last night to break the storied program's career scoring record and help the Tar Heels (10-0) remain unbeaten with a 91-73 victory over visiting Evansville (7-2). The reigning National Player of the Year passed Phil Ford for the record midway through the first half. Ford, now an assistant coach to fellow Tar Heel alumnus Larry Brown with the NBA Charlotte Bobcats, finished his career in 1978 with 2,290 points.

COLLEGE PARK -Two years ago, then-freshman Landon Milbourne watched with amusement as Maryland fans rushed the Comcast Center floor, toppling courtside seats in the process, to celebrate an 89-87 victory over fifth-ranked North Carolina. "It was crazy," Milbourne recalled yesterday. "It's one of those reasons you came to Maryland - so you can play in games like that." As the Terrapins prepared to play third-ranked North Carolina today, the image of fans wildly celebrating was a useful one for them to embrace.

Moments after an embattled Johns Hopkins lacrosse team withstood a late North Carolina rush to emerge with a 10-8 victory yesterday, senior attackman Dan Denihan stood in the middle of Homewood Field and discussed the state of the Blue Jays. "I know how good we are and how good we can be," he said. "The bottom line is we haven't played to our potential yet and we will. "We let down offensively in the fourth quarter today when we didn't go back to what we did in practice for this game," Denihan continued, "and defensively we were letting them get shots from 5 yards out on Brian Carcaterra [Hopkins goalkeeper]