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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Lucas: Snow Game IV
February 20, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
A snow game delivered again, with plenty of moments worth remembering.
By Adam Lucas
We didn't get biscuits, but we got everything else.
That's the story of Wednesday night at the Smith Center. Carolina thumped NC State, 97-73, and it will probably be the least remembered 24-point beating of the Wolfpack in rivalry history (you will probably get it confused with the 17-point win, the 20-point win, the 51-point win, or the other four double-digit wins…but enough about the last ten games in this series in this building).
Instead, we're going to remember that first half, when the Tar Heels suddenly came out as a defensive dynamo, creating nine Wolfpack turnovers, defending all over the court, and generally looking like the breakneck Heels they appeared to have the chance to be back in the fall. See that reaction from the UNC bench in the photo above? That's in response to a turnover created by Seth Trimble's on-ball defensive pressure. In other words, the exact kind of defensive intensity the coaching staff has been asking for since September.
We're going to remember the fans chanting, "Cade…Cade…Cade" before Cade Tyson had even swished a first half three-pointer. A small pocket of fans started the chant when he entered the game late in the first half, then were joined by the entire non-risers end zone of the building when he made his first attempt, then had the whole building doing it when he swished his second three-pointer, and would have had all of Orange County repeating it if Tyson had made a last-second corner three before halftime.
Let me say this: if Cade Tyson shoots 67 percent from three when fans chant his name, then all of you have one very simple job on Saturday when Virginia comes to the Smith Center.
And even those of us who wouldn't have had to go to class on Thursday anyway will remember chancellor Lee Roberts walking to midcourt at the media timeout with 3:20 remaining in the first half. Students, let me give you this free advice: you may never feel more, well, college in your entire life than when the chancellor announces on the PA that classes are canceled tomorrow while Carolina is beating State 48-20 and snow is coming down outside and you are surrounded by your friends in a general admission Smith Center and you think maybe you'll just stroll to Franklin Street after the game.
When you come back ten years from now and sit at the Carolina Inn talking about how much you miss Carolina—not just miss college, but miss Carolina—that's the exact moment you'll be talking about.
It was just a lot of fun. This hasn't been an easy season. But Wednesday night was simply two hours of having fun cheering for the Tar Heels. Tomorrow there can be issues to worry about and metrics to parse. Tonight the crowd came to have a good time, and somehow the synergy between team and fans was perfect, and the result was—as it always seems to be for snow games—perfect.
"The crowd was amazing," Hubert Davis told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "They made a difference."
Seth Trimble keyed that first half defensive momentum with his ball pressure and overall energy. He took his initiative from the fans. When the Tar Heels ran out of the tunnel, he noticed it immediately. "I know it's not packed like it usually is," he told Russell Hawkins, "but I'm really messing with this energy in here."
OK, fine, maybe he didn't say "messing."
"The fans played such a huge part in this," Trimble said on the THSN. "For the students to come out in a snowstorm was a super fun time. That's probably the most fun game I've played here other than the Duke game at home last year."
See? Even Seth Trimble said it was fun. That's part of the beauty of these snow games: you never know when these might happen.
The history of University of North Carolina basketball would suggest that you are more likely to experience a national championship while on campus (four of them in the life of the Smith Center) than a throw-open-all-the-doors night at the Smith Center (Wednesday night was the third). Add the 2017 game against NC State, when snow delayed the game by a day, and you still have snow games occurring about as often as national titles.
Even if you don't realize it now, these are games you remember. "That crowd…the students really came out and made some noise," Dean Smith said in 1994. Six years later, the students climbed over seats to snag prime spots in 2000. A 51-point beatdown (and some very memorable halfcourt shots at halftime) in 2017.
And now this one.
The sheer randomness of it all seemed to connect everyone. However we got here—whether by being a very skilled basketball player from Wisconsin or a student who walked over from the dorm or a lifelong fan who made an iffy drive from home just for the opportunity to be part of the environment—we all somehow ended up together, in this place, chanting for Cade Tyson, on Wednesday night. When you woke up on Wednesday, could you have imagined this scenario? Probably not. But that's the beauty of a snow game.
From national anthem (on an electric guitar) to near-biscuits, an imperfect team gave us a perfect night.
And a perfect snow game. Again.
We didn't get biscuits, but we got everything else.
That's the story of Wednesday night at the Smith Center. Carolina thumped NC State, 97-73, and it will probably be the least remembered 24-point beating of the Wolfpack in rivalry history (you will probably get it confused with the 17-point win, the 20-point win, the 51-point win, or the other four double-digit wins…but enough about the last ten games in this series in this building).
Instead, we're going to remember that first half, when the Tar Heels suddenly came out as a defensive dynamo, creating nine Wolfpack turnovers, defending all over the court, and generally looking like the breakneck Heels they appeared to have the chance to be back in the fall. See that reaction from the UNC bench in the photo above? That's in response to a turnover created by Seth Trimble's on-ball defensive pressure. In other words, the exact kind of defensive intensity the coaching staff has been asking for since September.
We're going to remember the fans chanting, "Cade…Cade…Cade" before Cade Tyson had even swished a first half three-pointer. A small pocket of fans started the chant when he entered the game late in the first half, then were joined by the entire non-risers end zone of the building when he made his first attempt, then had the whole building doing it when he swished his second three-pointer, and would have had all of Orange County repeating it if Tyson had made a last-second corner three before halftime.
Let me say this: if Cade Tyson shoots 67 percent from three when fans chant his name, then all of you have one very simple job on Saturday when Virginia comes to the Smith Center.
And even those of us who wouldn't have had to go to class on Thursday anyway will remember chancellor Lee Roberts walking to midcourt at the media timeout with 3:20 remaining in the first half. Students, let me give you this free advice: you may never feel more, well, college in your entire life than when the chancellor announces on the PA that classes are canceled tomorrow while Carolina is beating State 48-20 and snow is coming down outside and you are surrounded by your friends in a general admission Smith Center and you think maybe you'll just stroll to Franklin Street after the game.
When you come back ten years from now and sit at the Carolina Inn talking about how much you miss Carolina—not just miss college, but miss Carolina—that's the exact moment you'll be talking about.
It was just a lot of fun. This hasn't been an easy season. But Wednesday night was simply two hours of having fun cheering for the Tar Heels. Tomorrow there can be issues to worry about and metrics to parse. Tonight the crowd came to have a good time, and somehow the synergy between team and fans was perfect, and the result was—as it always seems to be for snow games—perfect.
"The crowd was amazing," Hubert Davis told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network. "They made a difference."
Seth Trimble keyed that first half defensive momentum with his ball pressure and overall energy. He took his initiative from the fans. When the Tar Heels ran out of the tunnel, he noticed it immediately. "I know it's not packed like it usually is," he told Russell Hawkins, "but I'm really messing with this energy in here."
OK, fine, maybe he didn't say "messing."
"The fans played such a huge part in this," Trimble said on the THSN. "For the students to come out in a snowstorm was a super fun time. That's probably the most fun game I've played here other than the Duke game at home last year."
See? Even Seth Trimble said it was fun. That's part of the beauty of these snow games: you never know when these might happen.
The history of University of North Carolina basketball would suggest that you are more likely to experience a national championship while on campus (four of them in the life of the Smith Center) than a throw-open-all-the-doors night at the Smith Center (Wednesday night was the third). Add the 2017 game against NC State, when snow delayed the game by a day, and you still have snow games occurring about as often as national titles.
Even if you don't realize it now, these are games you remember. "That crowd…the students really came out and made some noise," Dean Smith said in 1994. Six years later, the students climbed over seats to snag prime spots in 2000. A 51-point beatdown (and some very memorable halfcourt shots at halftime) in 2017.
And now this one.
The sheer randomness of it all seemed to connect everyone. However we got here—whether by being a very skilled basketball player from Wisconsin or a student who walked over from the dorm or a lifelong fan who made an iffy drive from home just for the opportunity to be part of the environment—we all somehow ended up together, in this place, chanting for Cade Tyson, on Wednesday night. When you woke up on Wednesday, could you have imagined this scenario? Probably not. But that's the beauty of a snow game.
From national anthem (on an electric guitar) to near-biscuits, an imperfect team gave us a perfect night.
And a perfect snow game. Again.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Basketball
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/ Men's Basketball
G/F
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