This season’s first installment of the Tobacco Road rivalry has a much different feel than what many fans anticipated following a hype-filled offseason for both N. C. State and North Carolina. After each program signed top-five recruiting classes, many expected the rivalry to be rejuvenated by the next generation of young and upcoming stars. But six games into the conference schedule and it’s clear neither program has lived up to its lofty offseason hype.
The Wolfpack (2-4 ACC, 12-8 overall) has shown difficulty playing with the lead, blowing a 17-point advantage to Miami in its 72-70 victory Sunday and a 19-point lead in its 60-50 loss to Clemson on Tuesday. But sophomore Scott Wood said there is a learning curve when it comes to knowing how to play with a lead that he team will learn with time.
“When you’re a young team, you’re going to have some inconsistencies,” Wood said. “But at the same time, that’s just an excuse. If we get the lead up to 19 [points], then we should be able to get it to 38. So it’s just one of those things we have to build on and get that killer mentality. Once we get that, we’ll be fine but we need to get it quick.”
When playing basketball for State, the one thing players want to do aside from winning an ACC or NCAA championship is to beat North Carolina. Unfortunately for senior Tracy Smith, he has not been able to accomplish that feat but said that is one of his two goals before his career is over.
“In the four years since I’ve been here, we haven’t beaten North Carolina,” Smith said. “That’s still one of the things I want to do; beat North Carolina and make the NCAA tournament. I’m going to do everything I can to help us win the game and I know my teammates will follow me.”
After a subpar 2009-10 season, the Tar Heels (4-1 ACC, 14-5 overall) have had their own struggles this year, most notably a 20-point loss at Georgia Tech. Like State, North Carolina has had to lean on freshman to help carry the load, but junior C.J. Williams said the key will be limiting those young, athletic players.
“Their young guys are so talented and play so hard that it’s tough to knock them off their game for an entire 40 minutes, but that’s what we’re going to have to do,” Williams said.
Freshman Harrison Barnes, a preseason All-American, has been slowly emerging into a game-changer that many expected the No. 1 overall high school recruit to be. Barnes single-handedly powered the Heels to victory over Miami on Wednesday, knocking down a pull-up jumper to tie the score and a three-pointer to win the game.
More than likely, coach Sidney Lowe will matchup either Williams or C.J. Leslie against the six-foot-seven-inch Barnes, who is averaging 11.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
The Wolfpack will have its hands full in the paint trying to contain North Carolina’s leading scorer Tyler Zeller, who averages 13.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Zeller is joined down low by the lanky six-foot-10-inch Jon Henson, who leads the Heels in rebounding and blocked shots with 8.1 and 2.9 per game, respectively. Although Henson is a shot-blocking threat, Smith said he still feels confident in his scoring ability when matched up against Henson.
“He’s a pretty good shot-blocker and he’s lengthy, but I think I can still find a way to score,” Smith said.
Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill.
