Chansky's Notebook: Had It Coming

Art Chansky’s Sports Notebook is presented by The Casual Pint. YOUR place for delicious pub food paired with local beer. Choose among 35 rotating taps and 200+ beers in the cooler.

At the turning point, Carolina didn’t have the goods and N.C. State did.

Despite still shooting poorly, failing to force a single turnover in the first half and making critical defensive errors, the Tar Heels led the Wolfpack 54-48 with 09:32 remaining. They had three straight possessions but did not score to put game pressure on State, which went on to shoot 65 percent in the second half.

To that point, they were only winning on the glass and gutting it out, but when the superior home team took it to another level with a 27-9 scoring run, that was that. UNC may have to win its last four games to avoid becoming the first preseason No. 1 in almost 40 years not to make the NCAA tournament.

The Pack’s decisive 15-3 run with the score tied at 60 sent the capacity PNC crowd over the edge of hysteria, part of which was possibly knocking their archrival out of an NCAA bid. State’s turnaround is every bit as amazing as Carolina’s decline. After finishing 15th and last in the ACC in 2022, Kevin Keatts has pieced together an athletic and quick club that is 11-6 in the ACC with three quality shooting guards and a very big man who is tough to contain.

Leaky Black held State’s leading scorer Terquavion Smith to 5-for-16 from the floor and 0-4 from long range. But Smith’s running mate Jarkel Joiner had what must be a career high 29 points, 20 in the second half, 19 in the last 9 minutes. Armando Bacot, who had his second double double (16 and 14) of the season against the Pack, did a decent job on burly D.J. Burns, who abused anyone else trying to guard him, scoring almost at will in the paint.

Caleb Love led the Heels with 23 points but had 4 of their 13 turnovers.

Unlike the loss at Wake Forest in their last road game, the Tar Heels certainly came out with fighting spirit and scrapped their way into a position to pull an upset and win their first Quad 1 game in the NET Rankings.

“With the six-point lead, we had two turnovers and a missed layup,” Hubert Davis said after his second UNC team dropped to 8-8 in the ACC and 16-11 overall. “It seemed like every time we turned the ball over, it led to two points for them. Look how many points in the paint (46) and fast break points (25) and points off turnovers (16). Half of that gives you a chance to win.”

The Tar Heels had it coming, for sure, having won 8 of the last 9 over State in Raleigh, and 36 of the last 41 in the series.

Last year, they wrote the biggest story in college basketball. This year, they could wind up writing the most shocking story. Maybe or maybe not, with four games left in the regular season.

Either way, it will be a valuable life lesson for a group that, to this point, looks to be facing failed expectations.

Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Chansky’s Notebook: Had It Coming

On Air Now: 97.9 FM