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Thursday, Jan. 27 7:00pm ET
Haywood powers UNC over Maryland

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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) -- The Carolina blue bleeding has stopped.

Reeling North Carolina avoided its first five-game losing streak since 1952 as Brendan Haywood matched his career high with 24 points in a 75-63 victory over Maryland (No. 21 ESPN/USA Today, No. 22 AP) on Thursday night.

"We want to remember this feeling so we can taste it again," said North Carolina's Jason Capel, who added 11 points and 12 rebounds.

The Tar Heels (12-8, 3-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and seven at halftime, but stormed back in the early portion of the second half to end a miserable stretch of six losses in nine games.

"Coach (Bill) Guthridge told us to just settle down," Capel said of the halftime speech. "He said we came out too anxious and to settle down and good things will happen and stay together because we were going to come back and win.

"There was no way we were going to lose this game," Capel added. "We have worked too hard and we deserve this. We came out and played for (coach) and the fans and had a good time in the second half."

Maryland (13-6, 2-4) made 10 of its first 17 3-pointers, but hit the offensive skids during a 14-0 North Carolina run midway through the second half that turned the game around and put the Tar Heels up 59-50.

The Terrapins closed to 62-60 with 5:34 left on a 3-pointer by Juan Dixon, who scored 22 points, but then the 7-foot Haywood became a force.

Following a follow shot by Julius Peppers, Haywood had a follow slam, forced a turnover on the defensive end and nailed two free throws as the Tar Heels went back up by eight with 3:20 remaining and closed the game with a 13-3 run.

"We've played 19 games now and we should be more consistent than we were in the second half," Maryland coach Gary Williams said of his team's 26 percent shooting over the final 20 minutes. "We just broke down."

Haywood, who was 10-for-11 from the foul line, also had 24 points against California in 1998.

North Carolina came into the game with its worst losing streak since the 1991-92 season.

"From everything I read this week I knew it was going to be a situation like (desperation) coming in here," Williams said. "To their credit, they got it up. It's one thing to talk about it, it's another thing to do it. They did a great job of playing with emotion."

The game was pushed back 24 hours because of a 20-inch snowstorm that hit the area Monday night, and many of North Carolina's regular fans were absent.

That meant students, the majority of which sit in the upper deck of the Smith Center, were allowed on the lower level and the increased noise seemed to rattle the Terrapins early.

"Not in this atmosphere, we weren't going to put Carolina away tonight," Williams said of his team's early lead.

Maryland started 0-for-7 from the field, but quickly got back into it with a 21-5 run, capped by four straight 3-pointers, two by reserve Drew Nicholas.

The Tar Heels went through a six-minute span without a basket to fall behind by 11.

North Carolina, which shot 36 percent in the first half and turned the ball over 11 times, stayed in the game by outscoring the Terrapins 15-2 from the foul line in the opening 20 minutes.

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