Saturday night, Titus Ivory got some bad news.

His mother was rushed to the hospital because of a stomach problem.

For Ivory, who already had lost his father, not only did he have to prepare himslef for the biggest game of his Penn State basketball career, he had to be concerned about the well-being of his mother.

"I didn't get a lot of rest last night," Ivory said after the Nittany Lions upset second-seeded North Carolina. "It didn't sit well in my stomach.'

Yesterday morning — game day — Ivory went to see his mother, who was feeling better, and encouraged him to get out of the hospital and start preparing for the Tar Heels. He did just that.

Ivory drained eight of twelve shots, including three three-pointers, as the Charlotte, N.C., native scored 21 points and added five steals.

On top of Ivory's offensive statistics, the senior also shut down North Carolina's top player, Joseph Forte.

The Tar Heel guard shot an awful 3-of-13 from the field, scored only six points and comitted five turnovers.

Forte, who was considering a jump after this seaosn to the NBA, might want to re-think his decision after Ivory's spectacular defensive game.

"He didn't shoot particularly well," North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said of Forte. "He tried to get the ball inside."

Forte was getting a lot of defensive pressure from Ivory and sophomore Jon Crispin, but the away-from-the-game pressure of being tagged a 'ballhog' might have gotten in his head.

Forte, who was the best two-guard in the Atlantic Coast Conference — if not the country — going in to the ACC Tournament, was charged with heaving up way too many shots. Drawing criticism, Forte hasn't been the same player since he started passing more to his teammates and looking for his shot less.

"I don't think the fact that he didn't shoot more had any bearing on our loss," Doherty said. "We all weren't sharp."

On the Penn State sideline, though, the backcourt was extremely sharp. Ivory and Joe Crispin both had 21 points and sophomores Jon Crispin and Brandon Watkins came up big in key situations.

Watkins, who was the smallest player on the court, had three rebounds, including one huge offensive rebound in only 16 minutes. The Penn State guard also dished out five assists.

The entire Penn State guard corps did their job offensively and defensively. Forte had only six points, point guard Ronald Curry had nine and subsititute Brian Morrison only had a single point.

Combine that lack of production with North Carolina shooring only nine percent from behind the arc in the second half, and it is easy to see how Penn State got the win.

"We were the ones with energy in ourt legs," Joe Crispin said. "I really expected us to win that game."