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University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina
NC State
No. 25 Tar Heels Drop No. 13 Wolfpack, 82-69
January 7, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2006
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) - One team scored the first 11 points, the other had the final 13. In between, No. 25 North Carolina did just enough to continue its recent domination of North Carolina State.
Bobby Frasor made sure of it.
The freshman point guard scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and had a clutch steal in the final 2 minutes as the Tar Heels held off the 13th-ranked Wolfpack 82-69 Saturday.
"I was really casual and not aggressive with the basketball," Frasor said of his struggles before halftime. "I wouldn't say I was in the zone, but definitely shots were falling, which makes things a lot easier."
Tyler Hansbrough converted all 14 free throws on his way to 20 points and David Noel added 14 for North Carolina (9-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), which won its fifth straight in this Tobacco Road rivalry. This was the first time since Jan. 20, 1990, that N.C. State came in with a higher ranking, but it hardly mattered to the Tar Heels.
"We knew that we have a totally different team this year, and the past is the past," Noel said. "We have to play for now. The games we won last year and the year before that weren't going to help us win this game. We just put all that behind us and went out and played."
They scored the final 13 points during the last 2 1/2 minutes to break free from a tie game and made the final margin deceptively large. While Frasor had none of those points, he had perhaps the biggest play, jumping in the passing lane for his steal with North Carolina clinging to a 73-69 lead.
The turnover led to two free throws from Hansbrough, and the Wolfpack never recovered. Noel capped the stunning conclusion with his second breakaway dunk, throwing this one down with both hands to punctuate the Tar Heels' 21st victory in the past 29 games against N.C. State.
"We had a poor defensive effort at crunch time, and they did a good job with their offense," N.C. State guard Engin Atsur said. "They executed really well and they found some open layups."
Ilian Evtimov finished with 15 points and teammate Tony Bethel had 13 for the Wolfpack (12-2, 1-1), who had their best start in 17 years stopped.
"We were very confident that we were going to win this game," Evtimov said. "I don't think people give Carolina enough credit, they are very good despite the fact that they're very young. They play hard, they execute and they listen to their coach."
In the first 3 1/2 minutes, it appeared this one might be different. The Wolfpack jumped to an 11-0 lead, an opening spurt that included a spectacular dunk by Cameron Bennerman. He beat everyone to the other end following a steal and left the floor just inside the foul line.
Still, North Carolina coach Roy Williams refused to call a timeout, believing his team would recover on its own.
"I made a conscience decision that if it had been 44-to-nothing, I wasn't going to take a timeout," he said. "My team is so young, they have to grow. I know my team, and I think that it's better in the long run if they fight their way out."
They did, eventually taking an eight-point lead late in the first half. N.C. State came back, too, and the second half settled into a back-and-forth struggle controlled mostly by Frasor.
He put back a miss by Wes Miller to tie it, then had a layup to help the Tar Heels take a 54-48 lead. With the margin down to three about 3 minutes later, Frasor banked in a jumper, added another basket from in close and completed his run with his only 3-pointer of the game.
"I came back and settled down, and I just played my game," Frasor said.
Yet the Wolfpack fought back to another tie, with Bennerman finishing off another steal with an acrobatic layup to make it 69-all. Hansbrough gave North Carolina the lead with a dunk off an assist from Noel, and Frasor's steal made sure the Tar Heels hung on.
They finished 26-for-28 at the line and shot 53 percent from the field, the first time this season N.C. State has allowed an opponent to make at least half its shots.
"Any way we can get points on the board was a big key, and no one's guarding you at the free throw line," said Hansbrough, who came in shooting 69 percent. "I felt comfortable, I had been working on it. So they were just going in."
