Off the cuff: Maybe the annual UNC-NC State games aren't as highly regarded as the UNC-Duke games, especially nationally, but evidently Luke Maye, who grew up in North Carolina considers it a big rivalry and said he wanted "bragging rights." Maye came out in the second half on fire, scoring 27 of his game-high 33 points. Maye said he was more aggressive. UNC coach Roy Williams, who certainly considers State a big rivalry, agreed. "Luke was taking the ball to the basket in the second half," he said. "He hit a couple of threes but he was really successful taking it to the basket." One of the threes was a contested triple from way out with 10 seconds still left on the shot clock. It surprised everybody, including Coach Williams who approved only after it went in. It was a big one as it took a four-point lead late up to seven points. Joel Berry, who grew up in Florida, turned heads when he said he didn't consider NC State a rival like he does Duke. He performed well against State as well, scoring 16 points even with Markell Johnson jawing in his face early in the game. Emotions never got out of hand on the court but evidently someone said or did something to UNC's Brandon Robinson who fell into the hostile crowd during one particular play. Robinson was irate and security went over to talk to someone. The person wasn't escorted out and that seemed to irritate the Carolina bench. The two teams split games in the regular season, jawed at each other and had a dust up involving fans. Sounds like a rivalry to me. Those who attended Carolina in the 1970s no doubt considers NC State the chief rival. I well remember kids saying, "Duke is Puke, Wake is Fake but the one I hate is NC State." But with the stability at UNC and Duke, along with the consistently high-calibre games, combined with the national attention, the Duke rivalry is now king. The loser of the UNC-State game though has to deal with more fans locally as Duke's biggest fan base seems to be out of state. Now Carolina has a chance to win three games in five days for the first time since 1980 when the Tar Heels host Notre Dame Monday night. |
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