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University of North Carolina Athletics
Walter Davis shot vs. Duke in 1974 sent the game to overtime.
Lucas: Carmichael Top Ten
December 10, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Ten of the most memorable games in Carolina's Carmichael history.
By Adam Lucas
Carolina returns to Carmichael Auditorium--sorry, Carmichael Arena--this weekend for a Sunday date with Wofford. The current generation of Tar Heel fans wasn't alive the last time the program played a regular season game in the venue, so here's a quick history lesson on ten of the games that made Carmichael such a legendary place to watch a basketball game.
10. January 4, 1986: Carolina 90, NC State 79. Modern fans might be surprised to know that some of the most heated games in Carmichael history came against NC State, not Duke. So it was fitting to send the building out against the Wolfpack, a scheduling quirk made possible by a slight delay in Smith Center construction (the Tar Heels had already hosted one "last" game in Carmichael when they thought they were sending the building out with a win over Clemson in the 1985 home finale). The game itself wasn't especially memorable, but what happened afterward was--as the teams left the court, State coach Jim Valvano swiped the game ball and raced in for a layup, saying he wanted to be remembered for making "the last basket at Carmichael."
9. January 4, 1971: Carolina 79, South Carolina 64. Speaking of old rivalries that pulsated at Carmichael, how about South Carolina? This one featured Carolina-turned-South Carolina coach Frank McGuire and one of the biggest villains in Tar Heel hoops history, John Roche. The second-ranked Gamecocks were expected to pummel Dean Smith's unranked team, but Carolina held the ball to pull McGuire's club out of their favored zone. South Carolina was frustrated for most of the game, as epitomized when Roche tossed the ball at an official and received a technical foul, thrilling the sellout crowd.
8. February 25, 1975: Carolina 76, NC State 74. The Wolfpack had won an unthinkable nine straight games in the series, including two earlier in the season against Tar Heel freshman Phil Ford. But Ford was sensational, pouring in 19 points in the first half. When the freshman point guard picked up his fourth foul with 17 minutes left, Smith went to the John Kuester-directed Four Corners. Ford fouled out with four minutes remaining but Carolina held on with some big free throws down the stretch. The cathartic win over David Thompson and the Pack sent the Carmichael fans onto the court after the game.
7. March 3, 1984: Carolina 96, Duke 83 (double overtime). This game very well might have been the father of the Carolina-Duke rivalry as we know it today. The Tar Heels were trying to find a rhythm again after reincorporating Kenny Smith, who had missed time with a broken wrist. The young Blue Devils, under the direction of little-known coach Mike Krzyzewski, had a two-point lead late in the regulation. But they missed a free throw with nine seconds remaining, and Sam Perkins grabbed the rebound and called timeout with seven seconds left. After the timeout, Matt Doherty took the inbounds pass the length of the court and hit a foul line jumper in his final Carmichael game to send it into overtime. The Tar Heels eventually prevailed in two extra periods.
6. December 16, 1978 and December 22, 1979: Carolina 70, Michigan State 69 and Carolina 61, Indiana 57. Two superstars took losses in December Carmichael appearances. The first was Magic Johnson, whose third-ranked and eventual national champion Spartans fell to 13th-ranked Carolina. The next year, it was Isaiah Thomas and fifth-ranked Indiana that lost in Chapel Hill.
5. January 9, 1982: Carolina 65, Virginia 60. Now we're getting into the all-time classics. This was a 1-2 showdown featuring Ralph Sampson against James Worthy, Perkins, Michael Jordan and the rest of the eventual 1982 champions. Point guard Jimmy Black fouled out for Carolina, but substitute Jim Braddock hit four big free throws in the closing minutes to seal the win.
4. January 12, 1983: Carolina 72, Maryland 71. You can't have a Carmichael list without Lefty Driesell. In this one, it looked like Lefty might finally get a Chapel Hill win, until Braddock hit a three-pointer--the ACC was experimenting with a shorter three-point line for this season only--to give the Tar Heels the late lead. With one possession remaining, Maryland got the ball to Chuck Driesell (yes, Lefty's son), but Jordan came all the way from the top of the key to block Driesell's potential game-winner under the basket.
3. February 25, 1978: Carolina 87, Duke 83. One of the greatest Senior Days in Carolina history saw Phil Ford in tears when he was recognized at center court before the game. He played his usual amazing game against a Duke team that would finish the season ranked second in the country, scoring a career-high 34 points and hitting a pair of clutch free throws with six seconds left to seal the win.
2. February 10, 1983: Carolina 64, Virginia 63. The growing legend of Michael Jordan added another page in this game, as third-ranked Virginia and Sampson had a 16-point lead with 9:45 left. When Doherty hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 14, Smith called timeout and told his team, "Wouldn't it be fun to pull this out and win it?" A furious comeback ensued, with Jordan's tip-in cutting the Cavalier lead to one point. Virginia inbounded it to Rick Carlisle, who forgot Jordan was behind him. The Tar Heel guard tapped the ball away, swiped it off the Carmichael court, and soared it for an artistic one-handed dunk that gave Carolina the lead. To cap his incredible day, when Carlisle missed a jumper with seconds left, it was Jordan who outleaped the 7-foot-1 Sampson for the game-clinching rebound.
1. March 2, 1974: Carolina 96, Duke 92 (overtime). This is perhaps the signature non-NCAA Tournament game in the history of North Carolina basketball. It laid the groundwork for all the comebacks yet to come and is the quintessential example of Dean Smith's end of game clock management. The sequence, with Duke holding an eight point lead with 17 seconds left: Bobby Jones hits two free throws. John Kuester scores off a steal. Jones scores off an offensive rebound with six seconds remaining. After a missed Duke free throw and an Ed Stahl rebound, Walter Davis banks in a shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Less remembered is that the Tar Heels actually trailed by four in overtime before coming back again for the victory.
Carolina returns to Carmichael Auditorium--sorry, Carmichael Arena--this weekend for a Sunday date with Wofford. The current generation of Tar Heel fans wasn't alive the last time the program played a regular season game in the venue, so here's a quick history lesson on ten of the games that made Carmichael such a legendary place to watch a basketball game.
10. January 4, 1986: Carolina 90, NC State 79. Modern fans might be surprised to know that some of the most heated games in Carmichael history came against NC State, not Duke. So it was fitting to send the building out against the Wolfpack, a scheduling quirk made possible by a slight delay in Smith Center construction (the Tar Heels had already hosted one "last" game in Carmichael when they thought they were sending the building out with a win over Clemson in the 1985 home finale). The game itself wasn't especially memorable, but what happened afterward was--as the teams left the court, State coach Jim Valvano swiped the game ball and raced in for a layup, saying he wanted to be remembered for making "the last basket at Carmichael."
9. January 4, 1971: Carolina 79, South Carolina 64. Speaking of old rivalries that pulsated at Carmichael, how about South Carolina? This one featured Carolina-turned-South Carolina coach Frank McGuire and one of the biggest villains in Tar Heel hoops history, John Roche. The second-ranked Gamecocks were expected to pummel Dean Smith's unranked team, but Carolina held the ball to pull McGuire's club out of their favored zone. South Carolina was frustrated for most of the game, as epitomized when Roche tossed the ball at an official and received a technical foul, thrilling the sellout crowd.
8. February 25, 1975: Carolina 76, NC State 74. The Wolfpack had won an unthinkable nine straight games in the series, including two earlier in the season against Tar Heel freshman Phil Ford. But Ford was sensational, pouring in 19 points in the first half. When the freshman point guard picked up his fourth foul with 17 minutes left, Smith went to the John Kuester-directed Four Corners. Ford fouled out with four minutes remaining but Carolina held on with some big free throws down the stretch. The cathartic win over David Thompson and the Pack sent the Carmichael fans onto the court after the game.
7. March 3, 1984: Carolina 96, Duke 83 (double overtime). This game very well might have been the father of the Carolina-Duke rivalry as we know it today. The Tar Heels were trying to find a rhythm again after reincorporating Kenny Smith, who had missed time with a broken wrist. The young Blue Devils, under the direction of little-known coach Mike Krzyzewski, had a two-point lead late in the regulation. But they missed a free throw with nine seconds remaining, and Sam Perkins grabbed the rebound and called timeout with seven seconds left. After the timeout, Matt Doherty took the inbounds pass the length of the court and hit a foul line jumper in his final Carmichael game to send it into overtime. The Tar Heels eventually prevailed in two extra periods.
6. December 16, 1978 and December 22, 1979: Carolina 70, Michigan State 69 and Carolina 61, Indiana 57. Two superstars took losses in December Carmichael appearances. The first was Magic Johnson, whose third-ranked and eventual national champion Spartans fell to 13th-ranked Carolina. The next year, it was Isaiah Thomas and fifth-ranked Indiana that lost in Chapel Hill.
5. January 9, 1982: Carolina 65, Virginia 60. Now we're getting into the all-time classics. This was a 1-2 showdown featuring Ralph Sampson against James Worthy, Perkins, Michael Jordan and the rest of the eventual 1982 champions. Point guard Jimmy Black fouled out for Carolina, but substitute Jim Braddock hit four big free throws in the closing minutes to seal the win.
4. January 12, 1983: Carolina 72, Maryland 71. You can't have a Carmichael list without Lefty Driesell. In this one, it looked like Lefty might finally get a Chapel Hill win, until Braddock hit a three-pointer--the ACC was experimenting with a shorter three-point line for this season only--to give the Tar Heels the late lead. With one possession remaining, Maryland got the ball to Chuck Driesell (yes, Lefty's son), but Jordan came all the way from the top of the key to block Driesell's potential game-winner under the basket.
3. February 25, 1978: Carolina 87, Duke 83. One of the greatest Senior Days in Carolina history saw Phil Ford in tears when he was recognized at center court before the game. He played his usual amazing game against a Duke team that would finish the season ranked second in the country, scoring a career-high 34 points and hitting a pair of clutch free throws with six seconds left to seal the win.
2. February 10, 1983: Carolina 64, Virginia 63. The growing legend of Michael Jordan added another page in this game, as third-ranked Virginia and Sampson had a 16-point lead with 9:45 left. When Doherty hit a jumper to cut the deficit to 14, Smith called timeout and told his team, "Wouldn't it be fun to pull this out and win it?" A furious comeback ensued, with Jordan's tip-in cutting the Cavalier lead to one point. Virginia inbounded it to Rick Carlisle, who forgot Jordan was behind him. The Tar Heel guard tapped the ball away, swiped it off the Carmichael court, and soared it for an artistic one-handed dunk that gave Carolina the lead. To cap his incredible day, when Carlisle missed a jumper with seconds left, it was Jordan who outleaped the 7-foot-1 Sampson for the game-clinching rebound.
1. March 2, 1974: Carolina 96, Duke 92 (overtime). This is perhaps the signature non-NCAA Tournament game in the history of North Carolina basketball. It laid the groundwork for all the comebacks yet to come and is the quintessential example of Dean Smith's end of game clock management. The sequence, with Duke holding an eight point lead with 17 seconds left: Bobby Jones hits two free throws. John Kuester scores off a steal. Jones scores off an offensive rebound with six seconds remaining. After a missed Duke free throw and an Ed Stahl rebound, Walter Davis banks in a shot at the buzzer to send the game into overtime. Less remembered is that the Tar Heels actually trailed by four in overtime before coming back again for the victory.
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