North Carolina State University Athletics
Passions Still Strong Between Long-time Rivals
1/28/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2011
NC State (12-8, 2-4 ACC) at North Carolina (14-5, 4-1 ACC)
Jan. 29, 2011 • 2 p.m.
Dean E. Smith Center (21,750) • Chapel Hill, N.C.
TV coverage: ESPN
GoPack Game Notes
RALEIGH, N.C. -- While NC State’s Scott Wood, C.J. Williams and Tracy Smith will have the same objective when the Wolfpack (12-8, 2-4) meets North Carolina (14-4, 4-1) Saturday in Chapel Hill, the prism through which they view the rivalry with the Tar Heels is a little bit different.
The 218th meeting between the longtime Big Four foes is set to begin at 2 p.m. Wolfpack Sports Network airtime from the Smith Center will be 1:30.
Wood, a sophomore who grew up in Marion, Ind., didn’t really know what to expect before being exposed to the rivalry for the first time last season.
“They definitely hate each other,” Wood said. “Coming from Indiana, I didn’t think they hated each other that much. Just talking to people around campus, the first thing they said to me was ‘beat Carolina.’ It’s definitely heated and we want to get that win.”
For junior C.J. Williams, this game truly ‘hits home,’ and does so literally. Having grown up in Fayetteville, the junior swingman has been watching State-Carolina battles for as long as he can remember.
“I’ve always been here and I’ve watched ACC basketball and I’ve seen one of the most vicious rivalries with NC State and North Carolina,” Williams said. “This is one of the games where I hear students on campus telling me, ‘If you win only one game this season just please beat Carolina.’ This is big for us and our fans so we’re going to go out and play as hard as we can.”
Wood and Williams will have a few more chances to knock off the Tar Heels, no matter what happens on Saturday. For Tracy Smith, however, time is running short. The senior center has never enjoyed a win against UNC, going 0-6.
“We haven’t beaten North Carolina since I’ve been here,” said the 6-8 Smith, who leads the Pack in scoring with an average of 15.3 points per game. “That’s one of the things we’ve got to have before I leave is to beat North Carolina. I’m going to do whatever I have to do to win this game. I just hope my teammates follow me.”
Smith isn’t alone. No current member of the NC State team has ever beaten North Carolina. Entering Saturday’s contest, the Tar Heels are riding an eight-game winning streak in the series.
Of course, history should have very little impact on Saturday’s tilt, especially since the personnel on both teams has changed so dramatically over the last few years. In fact, there are more similarities than differences between the two clubs this season. Both teams rely on an unusually high number of younger players, which has led to predictable inconsistency.
The Tar Heels have a better record primarily because they have done a better job executing in crunch time. In close wins over Kentucky (75-73), Virginia (62-56), Virginia Tech (64-61), and Miami (74-71), the Tar Heels have not only overcome second-half deficits, but also made clutch plays when those games were on the line.
Freshman Harrison Barnes was the hero in Wednesday night’s victory over the Hurricanes, hitting two big jumpers in the final minute, including a 3-pointer with 6.6 seconds remaining to put his team over the top.
And it’s not the first time this year Barnes has been willing to step-up and take big shots at the end of close games.
“It shows you he has great confidence in himself,” said NC State head coach Sidney Lowe. “It shows you he has great poise. He didn’t take those shots out of distress; he wanted that shot. He’s a very talented player, there’s no doubt about that.”
Barnes and another freshman, point guard Kendall Marshall, were in North Carolina’s starting line-up on Wednesday. The other starters were sophomores John Henson and Dexter Strickland, along with junior Tyler Zeller. Carolina is also getting meaningful minutes from freshman Reggie Bullock and sophomore Leslie McDonald.
NC State’s rotation is similar, with freshmen Ryan Harrow, C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown complimenting the significant minutes played by sophomores Wood and Richard Howell.
“The inconsistency is expected,” Lowe said in response to a question about the youth of both teams. “We as coaches don’t want to put a lot of pressure on those guys, but what we expect them to do is play hard. They’re going to make mistakes. The biggest thing is when they make a mistake, they don’t feel like you’re taking them out of the game for making a mistake. The sensitivity of it, they don’t understand it right now. That takes time.”
Lowe is currently trying to massage the confidence of the 6-8 Leslie, who was relegated to bench duty when he got sick prior to last Sunday’s Miami game. Leslie remained in that reserve role on Tuesday at Clemson, and struggled, going scoreless in an 0-5 effort from the field.
“Coming off the bench is an adjustment for him,” Lowe said. “I think he’ll do fine and handle it well. And I didn’t say I wasn’t going to start him on Saturday.”
Lowe’s latest starting line-up, comprised of Harrow and Williams at the guard spots, Wood and Howell at the forward positions and Smith in the middle, has produced two of NC State’s best starts all year. The Wolfpack outscored the Hurricanes 12-2 over the first few minutes on Sunday, and was even better at Clemson, building a 19-point lead over the first 14 minutes before the Tigers stormed back.
It would behoove the Wolfpack to be sharp early on Saturday against a North Carolina team that is 9-0 on its home floor this season.
“When you’re young you’re going to have some of those inconsistencies and learning curves, but at the same time that’s just an excuse,” Wood said. “If you get the lead up to 19, then you should be able to get it up to 38. I think we need to get that killer mentality and once we get that we’ll be fine. But we need to get it kind of quick.”And for those who relish a long-awaited win over North Carolina, Saturday would be a perfect time to discover that long-sought killer instinct.
• By Tony Haynes, thaynes@gopack.com.
