UNC's Jackie Manuel made a pass as he fell after stealing the ball from Iowa's Mike Henderson.
UNC takes Maui title
Felton is named MVP after
a romp over Iowa for
the championship
LAHAINA, Hawaii » Raymond Felton did everything to get North Carolina another Maui Invitational championship.
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.
Oh, and he did it all one day after 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 took just four shots in the first half and made two, and had six points as North Carolina took a 59-40 lead. The Tar Heels shot 58 percent in the first half, closing the opening 20 minutes by making 11 of their last 14 shots.
In its semifinal win over Tennessee, North Carolina made 14 of its last 17 shots in the first half to take control.
"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."
Adam Haluska had 19 points and Horner added 18 for Iowa, which beat No. 12 Louisville and No. 15 Texas to reach the championship game.
"Three games in three days is one thing, but Louisville, Texas and North Carolina, all top 15 teams, that's a whole other level," Alford said. "We found out a lot and I feel there's great potential with this team."
Felton missed the Tar Heels' season-opening loss to Santa Clara because of a one-game suspension from the NCAA for playing in an unsanctioned summer league game. He said he was almost in tears on the bench watching that loss, but brought nothing by smiles with two moves early in the second half.
The 6-foot-1 Felton used a quick crossover dribble to get by a defender and threw down a vicious dunk to make it 71-48 with 16:36 to play.
Less than two minutes later, he took a pass near midcourt, took the ball around his back to avoid a defender and laid it in left-handed, showing no signs of trouble with the wrist, to make it 73-51.
"It was just basic instinct, just my ability that's about it," Felton said of the two plays. "When I made the crossover, I saw an opportunity to dunk and that's what I did. In transition, I went behind my back and tried to finish the layup."
Jawad Williams added 18 points and Sean May had 16 for North Carolina, which had 12 steals and forced 22 turnovers.
It was the second Maui Invitational title for Roy Williams; he won with Kansas in 1996. In attendance were Dean Smith, the Hall of Fame coach who led the Tar Heels here in the first appearance, and Bill Guthridge, who coached North Carolina to its other title.
Iowa won the eight-team tournament, which is sponsored by EA Sports, in 1987.
No. 12 Louisville 82, Stanford 67: Taquan Dean scored 30 points and the Cardinals (3-1) beat Stanford (2-2) in the fifth-place game, Louisville's first win this season over a Division I team.
Dean, a junior guard, was one point shy of his career high, set last season against VMI. He had 10 of Louisville's 13 points when the Cardinals broke the game open midway through the second half.
No. 15 Texas 95, Tennessee 70: Freshman guard Daniel Gibson scored 19 points and started Texas' run of second-half 3-pointers, leading the Longhorns (3-1) over the Volunteers (1-2) in the third-place game.
Brigham Young 77, Chaminade 56: Jared Jensen scored 16 points to lead the Cougars (1-2) to a victory over the Silverswords (1-3) in the seventh-place game.
Keena Young and Mike Hall each had 14 points and six rebounds for the Cougars (1-2), who lost to No. 11 North Carolina and Stanford in the first two rounds of the eight-team tournament sponsored by EA Sports.
Top 25
No. 1 Wake Forest 79, Providence 67: At New York, Justin Gray refused to let a shot to his face upset his game, and his second-half shooting protected Wake Forest's No. 1 status last night.
The top-ranked Demon Deacons (4-0) survived some hot shooting by Providence's Ryan Gomes at Madison Square Garden, defeating the Friars (3-1) in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT.
No. 5 Illinois 85, Oakland, Mich. 54: At Champaign, Ill., Luther Head scored Illinois' first seven points and finished with 22 to lead the Illini (3-0) over Oakland (0-2) to get their third straight win.
Head hit a career-high six 3-pointers, and had nine assists and two steals.
Deron Williams scored 17 points and also had nine assists for Illinois.
No. 16 Pittsburgh 83, Robert Morris 59: At Pittsburgh, Chris Taft and Chevon Troutman led a 16-0 run during the final six minutes of the first half that rallied the Panthers (2-0) from a sluggish start to an easy victory over the Colonials (1-3).
No. 18 Arizona 61, Michigan 60: At New York, Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson's Madison Square Garden winning streak stretched to 11 games when the Wildcats (3-1) squeezed past the Wolverines (3-1) in overtime in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT.
No. 19 Alabama 90, Alaska-Anchorage 55: At Anchorage, Alaska, Jermareo Davidson scored 15 of his 17 points in the first half, leading the Crimson Tide (3-0) to a rout of the Division II Seawolves (1-2) in the first round of the Great Alaska Shootout.
No. 24 Gonzaga 88, Idaho 74: At Spokane, Wash., Ronny Turiaf scored a career-high 40 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, leading the Zags (3-0) to a victory over the Vandals (0-4).
WAC
San Jose State 65, Montana State 64: At San Jose, Calif., Marquin Chandler scored four of his 18 points, including the game-winner, in the final 32 seconds helping the Spartans (1-1) beat the Bobcats (0-3).
Boise St. 63, Portland St. 51: At Boise, Idaho, Jermaine Blackburn scored 10 of his game-high 15 points during a 30-5 run in the first half and Jason Ellis scored all 11 of his points in the second period as the Broncos (3-1) defeated the Vikings (0-2).
