CB3 Media Heel Prints

Off the cuff: N.C. State Coach Sidney Lowe brought back the red jacket that he wore in the Pack's upset over the Tar Heels last year. There are some deep-seeded problems with that team that a jacket won't help. N.C. State has been a big disappointment. The Wolfpack was picked third in the conference in the preseason media poll - I was fooled even more as I picked them second. Maybe it's my imagination but they don't appear to be getting along - not arguing or anything, just not caring.

As you know by now, Coach Williams fell in his office the day before the game and had to have a couple of stitches in his head. He has said on several occasions that he didn't have any "dane brammage" from the fall. Ok, I admit it, I like that Coach Williams is corny... and knows it.

Don't get me started about the ESPN coverage. I like the announcers - Mike Patrick and Len Elmore - although we don't need to know Elmore's top five list of everything in the world. Again, it was the camerawork and production that was disturbing. It might be a record but viewers missed seeing four free throws in this game as they were hell-bent on showing us pre-packaged pieces. Just show us the game. I repeat, just show us the game. We also missed a Lawson three and two missed shots by State while they were doing something else.

Isn't the term "tobacco road" a little antiquated? Announcers love it but are there really any active tobacco warehouses or tobacco farms anywhere between State's campus and Carolina's?

I did think Mike Patrick's comment about N.C. State's socks was pretty funny and right on. He said that with those black socks, if they just had loafers on, they'd look like old men at the beach.

By the way, there were two more Woody Durham "air ball" calls, you know the Duke chant.

Heels 93, Wolfpack 62
UNC knocks State's lights out early in easy victory

North Carolina had perhaps its best half of the season while N.C. State had its worst as the Heels racked up a 43-13 halftime lead on the way to a 93-62 drubbing of the Wolfpack in Chapel Hill. (1/12)

With the score tied at 9-all four minutes into the game, the Tar Heels went on an amazing 32-2 run during which State shot four percent from the field and wound up shooting 17 percent for the half. Meanwhile, Carolina shot 75 percent during the winning stretch.

A coast-to-coast driving basket from Danny Green gave the Heels their first double-digit lead at 21-11 midway through the first half. Five minutes later Green drove the lane and put in a left-handed running leaner to give Carolina its first 20-point margin at 31-11.

Green had a big game with 13 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, a career-high four blocks, six assists and a steal.

A fast-break bucket by Deon Thompson pushed the margin to 30 at 41-11. Thompson, who seemed more energetic than usual from the outset, finished the game with a career-high 16 points.

Any thoughts that the Wolfpack had about making it a game were doused by Ty Lawson, who scored the Heels first 10 points of the second half, six of which game on three-point shots. Lawson scored all of his 16 points in the second half. For the second game in row, Lawson did not turn the ball over.

The lead got as high as 34 on several occasions and as low as 26 once. Coach Roy Williams wasn't happy with the Heels defense in the second half as State shot 58 percent, following that 17 percent first half. While Coach Williams said the Heels played good defense in the first half, he attributed most of the credit to the Wolfpack shooting woes. At one point, State missed 18 straight shots. "They missed a lot of shots they normally would make," he said.

Green, somewhat disagreeing with the coach, credited the Tar Heels defensive intensity as the main reason State was missing, which led to easier shots in transition. Carolina out-rebounded State 50-34. The Tar Heels shot 49 percent for the game while holding the Wolfpack to 37 percent.

Scoring didn't come as easy as normal for Tyler Hansbrough, who went three of 11 for 13 points, and Wayne Ellington, who went four of nine for 13 points.

Courtney Fells led the Wolfpack with 16 points while J.J. Hickson tallied 14, although he was just five of 16 from the field. The 13-point first half was a season low for N.C. State while the 49-point second half was a season high. The Tar Heels still managed to outscore the Pack in the second half as they scored 50.

Carolina's Will Graves was sick and did not play. Meanwhile, Quentin Thomas played well in his 13 minutes as he scored a couple of baskets and dished out four assists. He is going to be needed now that Bobby Frasor's is out for the season with a knee injury. Since Frasor got injured, Lawson is averaging 10 more minutes a game.

So just how good are the No. 1 ranked 17-0 Tar Heels? "I still don't know," Coach Williams said. "When we play defense, are really swarming, doing what we are supposed to do, and listening to the scouting report, then I think we are pretty doggone good."

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