The last time NC State beat UNC this badly, the year was 1962. Dean Smith was in his first year as the Tar Heels’ head coach, President John F. Kennedy was in the Oval Office, and the No. 1 song in America was “Peppermint Twist” by Joey Dee and the Starliters.
In other words, it was a long time ago.
As NC State rewrote the history books in Tuesday night’s 82-58 shellacking of the Tar Heels in Raleigh, the Wolfpack could afford to play to the crowd. Fan favorite Jordan Snell checked into the game late to the delight of the home supporters. When the starters were on the floor, they routinely talked trash to the Carolina players and bench. Former Tar Heel Ven-Allen Lubin entered the press conference area with a bedazzled belt around his neck, referencing Caleb Wilson’s viral guarantee that Carolina would dominate all its in-state foes. The disrespect was evident, and the Pack were reveling in it.
Wilson, of course, did not play Tuesday as he continues to rehab a hand injury. But that didn’t matter one bit to the Wolfpack, nor should it have. NC State outplayed Carolina in every sense of the word, and earned a ringing victory because of it. For UNC, the 30-minute drive back to Chapel Hill may as well be a funeral procession. There will be high school detention sessions with higher spirits.
“We didn’t have enough sense of pride,” said Jarin Stevenson in the bowels of the Lenovo Center. “It goes with holding each other accountable. It goes with our work. It starts in practice, not letting that happen again. If somebody’s slipping, then somebody has to step up and say something.”
In the dreary postgame locker room Tuesday night, that somebody to step up apparently was Wilson. Carolina’s star freshman has taken on the mantle of a senior leader in what is surely his lone season with the program. He may not have played a single minute in Raleigh, but he seems to have been the Tar Heel most ready to suit up.
“He was really not happy about the way we played,” Stevenson said, before adding, “He really believes in us.”
But belief, even from someone as vocal and outgoing as Wilson, can only take you so far. The Tar Heels knew they had to play well – outstanding, even – to earn a win in Raleigh without Wilson or Henri Veesaar, who also missed his second consecutive game. Instead, Carolina missed 15 of its 16 three-point attempts in the first half, then appeared to tune itself out of the game once the score got out of hand in the second. That is not conjecture; it was noted by Stevenson himself.
“Halfway through the second half, I feel like we were just giving up,” he said.
“We weren’t tough enough,” observed head coach Hubert Davis, during what was likely the most moribund press conference of his tenure. “We weren’t good enough.”
Davis was his usual taciturn self after a Tar Heel loss. He wouldn’t go into specifics when asked about Wilson’s postgame speech. He kept his answer short when asked about Lubin, only noting he “played well.” Toward the end of the session, Davis was asked a rare positive question: how would he evaluate the performance of Zayden High, who logged his first career double-double?
Davis appeared perplexed by the question and asked the reporter to clarify. Once he found his bearings, Davis gave the question some thought.
“I thought he competed,” he said.
There was a second half of that response that Davis clearly wanted to give. He left it unsaid. But it was enough.
Featured image via Associated Press/Karl DeBlaker
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