Lucas: Saturday Afternoon

By Adam Lucas

As soon as he walked down the varsity hallway and turned the corner into the Smith Center tunnel, Hubert Davis could feel it.

Saturday was NC State against Carolina. One national college basketball writer made a list of ten games to watch on Saturday and Tar Heels-Wolfpack wasn't on it, even as an "under the radar" game.

But this is why it makes so much sense for Hubert Davis to be the head coach at the University of North Carolina—he doesn't need lists. All he needed to do was look through the tunnel and see the 21,750 packed seats, the biggest crowd to watch a college basketball game anywhere in the United States on this day.

"There is nothing—nothing—better than an afternoon ACC game," Davis told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "Walking out of that tunnel at the beginning of the game, it felt like a big game. And it was."

It was big for so many reasons. The 80-69 victory was a conference win, moving Carolina into the clump of five teams tied for third at 6-3 (one of that group is Syracuse, where the Heels will travel on Tuesday). The win was also historic, as Armando Bacot moved into sole possession of two all-time UNC records—double-doubles (passing Billy Cunningham) and rebounds (passing Tyler Hansbrough). It happened in front of not just a sellout crowd but also the 1993 national title team, which reassembled to celebrate their 30^th anniversary.

It was also a win that required some toughness which, to credit State, has not always been the case in a few recent games in the series. This felt more like an old-school Carolina-State game, with Bacot banging against D.J. Burns in the paint and plenty of trash being talked and both teams fighting for the upper tier of the conference. Two flagrant fouls were handed out, one a dubious flagrant two on Leaky Black (no, he doesn't have to miss any time in the next game) and the other a flagrant one against Casey Morsell.

As with the very best Carolina-State games, there was some pregame commentary, this time from the State side. Quotes from both Terquavion Smith and Ernest Ross quickly made their way into the UNC locker room last week.

That helped create an intense week of practice, highlighted earlier this week when Hubert Davis grew frustrated with his team's defensive performance and jumped into a drill to demonstrate how he wanted his team to go over ball screens rather than under. "I'm 52 years old!" he barked.

That was the type of pregame intensity that did pay dividends—Carolina held the Pack below 30 percent from the three-point line—as opposed to the kind that wasn't very productive. Saturday was a tough day for Ross, who recently predicted that State "is gonna win that natty." Ross was dunked on by Pete Nance and missed a dunk of his own. As you might recall from Carolina's six NCAA championships, four of which have come since the Pack last won one—in fact, since 1990, the Tar Heels have more national titles than NC State has Sweet 16 appearances—nattys are not won in January.

But conference games are, and the Tar Heels had a stellar gameplan for Saturday's edition. NC State's defensive profile all season has been a team that fouls at an above-average rate. According to Ken Pomeroy, they're dead last in the league in FTA/FGA ratio in ACC games, meaning they send opponents to the free throw line more consistently than any defense in the conference.

Hubert Davis' gameplan, then, was simple: make State defend, take advantage of their tendencies, and convert at the free throw line. Armando Bacot and RJ Davis drew eight fouls apiece, meaning they drew as many fouls combined as the entire NC State team. Bacot and Davis also combined to hit 21-for-21 from the free throw line, and there's your game.

"At the beginning of the game we settled for too many three-pointers," Davis said. "Once we put our head down and attacked through penetration and got it down low to Mando in the post, it put us in a great position to get to the line. And we're a pretty good free throw shooting team."

It will be remembered, though, as more than just a free throw shooting contest. You can go your entire life as a Carolina fan and never see a Tar Heel set a major career record in person. Saturday, fans in attendance saw one person do it twice. Bacot's career rebounding mark eclipsed Tyler Hansbrough, a player whom Bacot has battled in summer pickup games. "Tyler Hansbrough is one of the greatest UNC players and college players of all time," Bacot said. "To say I have a record over him is unbelievable."

Hansbrough, of course, was in attendance, because this is Carolina and that's how it happens. It wasn't that long ago that it was Phil Ford on hand to congratulate Hansbrough for surpassing his UNC scoring mark. This time, it was Hansbrough acknowledging Bacot in the rebounding category. Before you know it, your favorite players are the former players and the stars are the legends.

But they're always around. Because Carolina Basketball simply isn't like anywhere else.

At Carolina, one current player sets a record and the all-time great he's passing in the record books shows up to congratulate him in person, while a national championship team from 30 years ago waits to address the entire team in the locker room.

"Being able to connect all the players, current and former, that's what makes this place special," Davis said. "They shared their experiences and talked about how their togetherness and closeness allowed them to win a national championship in 1993. That's something we have to do with this team: we want our togetherness and closeness to allow us to be the best team we can be."

Also on hand on Saturday was a certain Hall of Fame coach and current season ticket holder (to basically every sport on campus) who compiled a 33-5 record against State as the Tar Heel head coach. Roy Williams is just a fan now. And so he spoke for most of the other 21,750 as he walked out of the Smith Center on Saturday evening, grabbing a box score and soaking in the eleven-point win.

"Do you think," he said with a wink and a grin, "I might have loved that just a little bit?"

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

RJ Davis

Pete Nance

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