University of North Carolina Athletics
Smith Center at 20: Ten Memorable Wins
January 18, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2006
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The following story originally appeared in the January 2006 issue of the magazine.
By Adam Lucas
With this year marking the 20th anniversary of play in the Smith Center, Carolina has now played the same number of years in the building with the familiar white roof that they played in Carmichael Auditorium. And while Carmichael gets all the credit for being a formidable homecourt advantage, the Smith Center has also seen its share of pulsating Tar Heel victories.
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the building's first game on Jan. 18, 1986. We wanted to celebrate 20 years by picking the 10 most memorable Tar Heel victories in the Smith Center. The challenge proved not to be picking which games to include, but deciding which ones to exclude. For example, Dante Calabria's tip-in against Duke in 1996 narrowly missed the cut. So did the 84-81 win over Rick Pitino and Kentucky in 1990 and Brian Reese's game-winner against Wake Forest in 1992.
When the final dunks were counted and three-pointers tallied, these were our top 10 wins in Smith Center history.
Game #10
Jan. 15, 1997: Carolina 59, NC State 56
Dean Smith's Tar Heels had lost three straight league games for the first time in history and were struggling against an unranked NC State squad. Actually, struggling doesn't do it justice--the Heels went without a field goal in the second half until 8:09 remained. In the first 18 minutes of the second half, Carolina scored exactly two field goals, staking the Wolfpack to a 56-47 advantage with 2 minutes left.
As it turns out, it is just the setup to another memorable Tar Heel comeback. Thanks to some tenacious Carolina defense, NC State suddenly developed a complete inability to get the ball in-bounds. Antawn Jamison made the first steal, which led to a Shammond Williams layup. Then Williams--who finished with 21 points--hit a three-pointer and Jamison added a layup, shaving seven points off the deficit in just over a minute. After a Carolina free throw, the Pack missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. Jamison scored in the post again to give the Heels the lead for good, and Vince Carter stole the inbounds pass to seal the victory.
The Tar Heels would not lose at the Smith Center the rest of the season, as they would soon begin a 16-game winning streak that carried them into the Final Four in Indianapolis.
Game #9
Jan. 17, 2004: Carolina 86, Connecticut 83
With the Tar Heels looking lackadaisical on defense in the early minutes of the second half, Roy Williams called a timeout. He had occasionally been lenient with his first Tar Heel team, feeling he had to shepherd a squad that had been beaten up over the past few seasons. ut with a winnable game slipping away, he decided it was time for tough love. Grabbing a clipboard from a team manager, he slammed it to the Smith Center hardwood as his team huddled around him.
"If you want to quit, go in the locker room and take off your jersey right now," he said through clinched teeth. "I'll get five guys out here who want to play. If you five want to quit, I'll just sit down and shut up and we'll get blown out. If you want to play, you have to show me in the next four minutes."
His team showed him. They battled back into the lead and the score is tied with a minute to play. During a timeout, Williams diagrammed a play that Carolina calls "Long Beach." Sean May applied a hefty screen to Rashad Anderson, who was assigned to guard Rashad McCants. The pick opened just enough space for McCants to catch Raymond Felton's pass and fire it all in the same motion. There was no doubt about the shot from the instant it leaves his hand. It sailed cleanly through the rim, and the much-criticized Smith Center crowd exploded.
The 86-83 victory was Carolina's tenth over a top-ranked team in program history, tying them with UCLA for the most in the nation.
Game #8
Jan. 26, 1997: Carolina 61, Clemson 48
This game perfectly summed up all the Clemson frustrations under Rick Barnes against Dean Smith and North Carolina. The Tigers came into the game ranked second in the country. The Tar Heels were limping along at 2-4 in the ACC. This, it seemed, was the best opportunity ever for Clemson to break their notorious 0-for streak in Chapel Hill. They were cruising. Carolina was struggling.
In 1997, it seemed, Barnes finally had some talent to put with his tenacious coaching style. But it wasn't Carolina-level talent. The Tar Heels started Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Shammond Williams, Ademola Okulaja, and Serge Zwikker in this game, and they slowly ground out a 23-16 halftime advantage. Clemson shot horribly, making just 18-of-66 field goal attempts. The game eventually reverted to the type of slugfest fans had come to expect, including a hard intentional foul on Williams by Terrell McIntyre that incensed the Smith Center crowd.
Smith used Carter masterfully on defense, matching him up against the diminutive McIntyre and holding the waterbug point guard to 3-of-13 from the field.
Clemson's frustration was evident after the game. Asked to explain his program's head-shaking losing streak in Chapel Hill, Barnes was in no mood to philosophize.
"If you really need an explanation," he said, "take your ass out there and look up at the rafters."
Game #7
Jan. 18, 1986: Carolina 95, Duke 92
The slogan was "Pride Will Build It." As it turned out, thousands of Tar Heels built it, with private donations ranging from a few dollars to a million dollars combining to build a state-of-the-art arena for the nation's premier basketball program. The final price tag was over $34 million, with every cent financed privately.
The building, which was originally known as the Student Activities Center before being rechristened the Dean E. Smith Center, actually opened a few games late. The Tar Heels played two "last" games in Carmichael Auditorium--one the season finale for the 1984-85 season and another midway through the 1985-86 campaign. But the delay worked out perfectly, because the Smith Center's debut came with top-ranked Carolina taking on third-ranked Duke.
Duke's Mark Alarie spoiled the suspense surrounding the first basket in the building by making an early hoop, but Warren Martin soon followed with the first Tar Heel two-pointer.
The game was billed as a contest between equals, but Carolina quickly took control. A second-half surge opened a 16-point lead and it took a late Duke rally to make the final score, 95-92, respectable.
Game #6
Dec. 4, 2004: Carolina 91, Kentucky 78
Four years of frustration poured out in what Roy Williams called one of the loudest environments of his Carolina tenure. The Wildcats had won four straight in a series once controlled by the Tar Heels by an average of almost 15 points per game. The closest contest during that span had come in the previous season, as Carolina essentially fell apart at Rupp Arena and played shoddy defense in the closing minutes as Kentucky slipped by with a 61-56 victory.
To those paying close attention, this game provided the first glimpses of what would become a national championship squad. After suffering a hard fall in Maui against Iowa, Raymond Felton had taken extra treatment on his wrist every day during the week. But he felt good enough to motor the Heels to an early 24-6 lead. His stat line--seven assists, five turnovers, 0-for-5 from the field--was decidedly average, but he was learning to control the game in exactly the way Roy Williams demanded.
Several of those assists found Sean May, who finished with 19 points and 14 rebounds. But it was something that didn't show up on the stat sheet that impressed his teammates. "I looked up," Jackie Manuel said, "and Sean was beating me down the floor." It was one of the first tangible examples of the offseason conditioning commitment that would eventually propel May to a Final Four Most Outstanding Player performance.
Kentucky closed the deficit to nine points late in the game, but they couldn't overcome Carolina's commanding 51-30 rebounding advantage, including a key late tip-in by Jawad Williams.
Game #5
Feb. 5, 1998: Carolina 97, Duke 73
This was the signature performance of one of Carolina's best teams. The game--matching the nation's top-ranked Blue Devils and second-ranked Tar Heels--essentially featured not just one, but two, blowouts of powerful Duke.
The game was memorable for a sublime performance by Antawn Jamison. The future national Player of the Year scored 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, blistering Duke's supposed defensive ace, Shane Battier.
Carolina rushed out to a 50-34 halftime advantage, but an ill-timed technical foul on Makhtar Ndiaye for spiking the basketball allowed Duke to close within 73-69 with 5:40 remaining. But Ed Cota controlled the tempo for the rest of the game, finishing with 12 assists and igniting an 18-0 run over the game's final 3:42.
Had he finished with 13 assists, he might have completed the most memorable play in Smith Center history--a late attempt at an off-the-backboard pass to Vince Carter was thwarted when Carter missed the slam dunk after catching the ball off the glass. The play still remains as one of the signature plays of a very memorable Tar Heel season and the most lopsided game in the series since 1983.
Game #4
Jan. 27, 2000: Carolina 75, Maryland 63
This is the game most fans remember simply as "the snow game."
Tipoff had been pushed back 24 hours because of a 20-inch snowstorm that blanketed the Triangle. But even with the delay, many of the fans across the state couldn't brave the treacherous roads. That created some concern about the intensity of the crowd in a contest Carolina desperately had to win after dropping four straight games.
Those concerns dissipated a few minutes after tipoff. At the first media timeout, with numerous lower level seats still empty, the public address announcer informed fans they could fill in any empty seats. The response was quick--and noisy.
Students clambered over seats in a hurried effort to claim the best available seats. And despite an announced crowd of only 15,455, one of the lowest in the building's history, the Smith Center began to rumble.
Lost in history is the fact that the Tar Heels needed every advantage from the crowd they could get. Maryland opened an 11-point first-half lead and maintained a seven-point advantage at halftime. But a 14-0 Carolina spurt reversed the momentum and opened a 59-50 Tar Heel advantage.
The crowd--and the Heels--had to weather one more comeback, as a Juan Dixon three-pointer brought the Terps within 62-60 with 5:34 remaining. But Brendan Haywood made several crucial plays down the stretch, including a follow slam dunk and a pair of free throws
The players and fans were suitably impressed by the surprisingly raucous crowd.
"Not in this atmosphere, we weren't going to put Carolina away tonight," Terp head coach Gary Williams said.
Game #3
Feb. 5, 1992: Carolina 75, Duke 73
Maybe you don't remember any specific plays from this game. Maybe you don't remember that Duke was coming off the 1991 national championship and ranked number-one in the country. Maybe you don't even remember Derrick Phelps's two clutch free throws that provided the margin of victory.
But you absolutely, positively remember this: blood streaming down the face of Eric Montross, the Tar Heel warrior wearing jersey-00 standing defiantly and nailing a couple of free throws despite his wound.
If the Maryland game is the "snow game," this has become, quite simply, the "bloody Montross" game. The former Tar Heel center and current Tar Heel Sports Network analyst has said fans bring this game up to him more often than they do the 1993 national championship--it had that profound an impact on the fan base.
Today, Duke and Carolina players might hang out together, might know each other from the summer AAU circuit. But the rivalry was much hotter in the late 80s and early 90s, when there was a genuine dislike between the two programs. The squads had staged one of the most intense ACC Tournament finals in history in 1989, and the 1992 Duke team featured a virtual who's who of dislikable Dukies, including Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, and Brian Davis.
The clash on Feb. 5 was tight throughout--there were 10 lead changes in the first half alone. Phelps's two free throws were his only successful charity tosses of the evening, and he also grabbed the key last-second rebound (Laettner missed two chances to tie the score in the final seconds) that preserved the game.
The Carolina point guard's role has largely been forgotten. The image of the bright red stream of blood running down Montross's cheek contrasting with his bright white home uniform will never be.
Game #2
Jan. 27, 1993: Carolina 82, Florida State 77
The game would have been a great one even without it. But Florida State head coach Pat Kennedy's postgame press conference sealed the game in Tar Heel lore.
After watching his team lose in dramatic fashion, Kennedy admitted that he'd spent some down time in the moments before the game perusing the Carolina media guide. The section he happened to read? Great Tar Heel comebacks.
Kennedy didn't just read about this one--he was able to live it first-hand. The Seminole lead was 45-28 at halftime and Sam Cassell bounded into the locker room boasting about how Henrik Rodl couldn't guard him. The `Noles stretched their advantage to 21 points in the second half and still led 73-54 with less than nine minutes left.
But a key pair of three-pointers by Rodl--and a timely timeout by Dean Smith with 9:30 remaining that seemed to put the first seed of doubt in FSU minds--ignited a rally. The Tar Heels scored 15 straight points, and a Montross hook shot closed the gap to 77-76 with 1:59 remaining.
George Lynch then made the most famous steal in the building's history, pilfering a Charlie Ward crosscourt pass and cruising in for a slam dunk that gave Carolina the lead and nearly caused the sellout crowd to shake the Smith Center's foundations.
Icy cool Donald Williams hit key free throws down the stretch--foreshadowing some other key free throws he would hit in New Orleans two months later--to seal the victory.
"What do you say after that?" Smith said. "What a great comeback."
Game #1
March 6, 2005: Carolina 75, Duke 73
Maybe this game is only at the top of the list because it's still so fresh. But the guess here is that even after the years have dulled the memory of one of the most frenetic finishes in the history of the Carolina-Duke series, it will still rank as the best Carolina win ever in the Smith Center.
One thing is certain--when Marvin Williams gobbled up a loose ball and fired the ball back into the basket it was the loudest moment in the history of the Smith Center. Louder than Lynch's dunk. Louder than the snow game. So loud that many fans never heard the official's whistle signaling a Blue Devil foul and awarding Williams one free throw.
He made the shot and Carolina survived last-second shots by J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing, capping an improbable comeback that saw the Tar Heels recover from a 73-64 deficit with 3:03 to play.
It was the perfect end to a perfect senior day. Jawad Williams, Melvin Scott, and Jackie Manuel finished their last game in front of the home crowd in fitting style, and so did Sean May, whose 26 points and 24 rebounds were one of the most dominant efforts in Carolina history.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and his book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about Going Home Again, click here.
