N.C. State 83, UNC 79

It's rare, but once in a light blue moon you might find a sports related post here. What? Is this about the Super Bowl* and about how great Prince was during halftime? He was amazing, but no. This is about another game from this past weekend, a college basketball game.

Specifically - the #3 North Carolina Tarheels vs. my beloved North Carolina State Wolfpack. See, where I come from college basketball is embedded in the fabric of the culture. That's not even an exaggeration. And within this pantheon of great college basketball my school very often finds itself playing the role of David to one of the blue schools' Goliath. That's just how we like it.

This time around I learned my lesson: post AFTER the game. And what an amazing game it was. In my opinion UNC is still a lock to go deep in the NCAA tourney in March, but for the majority of 40 minutes on Saturday the Pack dominated the Heels. In fact the only thing that kept North Carolina in the game were consistent turnovers by N.C. State.

I'd be lying if I didn't say that I noticed something different, something special, as soon as I saw the team (and Coach Lowe) take the court. Rather than wearing one of his usual sharp NBA style suits, Sidney Lowe was sporting a bright red blazer. From the N&O:

North Carolina coach Roy Williams wore a gray suit -- conservative, well-tailored. Since returning to UNC, he had not lost a game to the Pack.

But the Pack has a new coach, Sidney Lowe. He donned a red blazer -- a tribute to his old State coach, the late Jim Valvano, who often wore red for the big games, for the Carolina games.

"It was," a smiling Lowe later said, "no coincidence."

The most satisfying aspect of the game was the fact that NCSU simply outplayed UNC. State shot 76.5 percent in the second half and outrebounded Carolina 31-25. DOMINATION. Coach Roy Williams agreed: "They had more passion for the game than we did and I don't understand that. I'll never understand that. They dominated us."

You said it Roy. Dominated with style, if I do say so myself. How about (pictured above) Gavin Grant's dunk?! Engin Atsur pulling a bit of a Willis Reed...Courtney Fells on fire and with a massive breakaway dunk! All the dunks in fact...let's take a look.

Watch:
Gavin Grant reverse windmill dunk
NC State dunk highlights vs. UNC

Below you'll find MP3's of some N.C. State songs. Play them in the office today for your UNC alum friends or just send them a link to one of these songs. It's the nice thing to do.

Listen:
NCSU Fight Song - lyrics and info
The Red And White Song - lyrics and info
NCSU Alma Mater - lyrics and info

These MP3s were found HERE where you can also find MP3s for a bunch of other schools...even Carolina if you must. The pictures posted above were found HERE where you can find many more photos from this game. And lastly, let's just take a quick look at the post-game celebration on Hillsborough Street. Ah yes. Well done guys.

GO PACK.

*speaking of the football game from yesterday, I have to give a shout out to the Super Bowl ad for Doritos done by the guy from Cary - Waverly Place in tha house!