By R.L. Bynum
RALEIGH — With North Carolina playing without its two leading scorers, both big men, for only the third time since joining the ACC, good perimeter shooting was crucial.
Those hopes repeatedly bounced off the rim as the No. 16 Tar Heels struggled to get anything going offensively in N.C. State’s 82–58 victory Tuesday before a raucous, often profane, Lenovo Center crowd.
UNC (20–6, 8–5 ACC) faced its largest deficit of the season and could do little to slice into it, losing by at least 20 points to N.C. State (19–8, 10–4) for only the fourth time since the ACC was formed before the 1953–54 season, and the worst loss since a 24-point drubbing in 1962.
The asterisk that probably should accompany the loss offers little solace, even as Coach Hubert Davis tried to frame the last week with perspective.
“That’s life,” said Davis, who heard “f-you, Hubert” chants when questioning a referee about a first-half call. “Things you have to adjust. The only thing you have control over is how you react and respond.”
Throw in foul trouble to UNC’s previously little-used center, Zayden High, who was solid with his first career double-double (12 points, career-high 10 rebounds), and putrid shooting from starting guards, and it spelled disaster for UNC.
High fouled out with 5:37 left, while Derek Dixon and Seth Trimble combined to go 3 of 21 from the floor as UNC made a season-low 15.2% of its 3-point attempts, shot a season-low 31.7% from the floor and had a season-low effective field-goal percentage of 35.8% (lowest since 34.8% in a loss to Duke on March 4, 2023). Trimble has missed all eight 3-point attempts since his game-winner against Duke.
“I thought he competed,” Davis said of High. “I thought he was physical. I thought his presence was out there — loose balls, rebounds, finishing around the basket. Thought he played with great energy. That energy led to buckets and rebounds. But, at the end of the day, we didn’t win.”
How bad was the guard play? UNC tied for its second-fewest assists in a game this season with nine while tying for the fourth-highest turnover total with 12. How bad was the defense? For the first time since March 11, 2020, in an ACC tournament loss to Syracuse, the Tar Heels didn’t record a steal. N.C. State’s four turnovers tied its season low (also against Boston College and UNCG), and tied a season low for a UNC opponent (also Georgetown).
Jarin Stevenson was the only other Tar Heel to score in double figures with 13 points.
Henri Veesaar, out for the second consecutive game with a lower-extremities concern, was animated in talking to his teammates early in timeouts. Davis said Veesaar’s status remains uncertain.
“His outlook is day to day,” Davis said. “Every day he’s getting better.”
He and Caleb Wilson, out indefinitely, did their best to provide moral support on a tough night. Wilson was fiery at the beginning of timeouts and in the dressing room after the game.
But missing 42% of UNC’s scoring was never going to go well against the tough Wolfpack.
What worked against a bad Pittsburgh team didn’t get it done because the same effort was not there, and there was little movement on offense. Davis pointed to a lack of toughness on the other end of the floor.
“I just felt like our competitive fight wasn’t there,” he said. “They didn’t feel us defensively. They didn’t feel our presence at all.”
The Wolfpack’s switching and gap defense, along with torrid play from point guard Quadir Copeland, kept UNC from getting anything going offensively. Copeland attacked the Tar Heels’ switches and consistently got to the rim as they continuously lacked help-side defense.
Copeland did it all for N.C. State with 20 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals, with support from Will Able (19 points), Darrion Williams (13), Ven-Allen Lubin (12) and Paul McNeil Jr. (10).
Copeland trash-talked the whole game, including berating High when he fouled out. When asked what he said in the layup line to Wilson, Copeland proudly stated that he quipped, “Lace ’em up next time.”
“I felt like he controlled the game,” Davis said of Copeland. “His talent out there is real… he really is persistent and stubborn in getting to the basket.”
For first-year N.C. State coach Will Wade, the rivalry atmosphere matched the urgency his team felt coming in.
“We played with more of an edge today,” Wade said. “Our guys were locked in and ready to go.”
After a Stevenson three-point play gave UNC an early two-point lead, N.C. State jumped ahead with a 21–6 run. Matt Able’s second straight 3-pointer with 11:21 left in the first half gave the Pack a 13-point lead, 25–12.
An 8–4 UNC run cut its deficit to nine, but a 9–2 Pack run pushed their lead to 16, and they led 42–26 at halftime.
Carolina could only trim three points off that lead after a Luka Bogavac 3-pointer with 14:42 left. State then went on a 13–6 run to go up by 20 on an Able tip-in with 10:07 remaining. A Copeland free throw made it a 24-point lead with 3:51 left.
Notes
— Carolina plays another Quad 1 game on Saturday with its 1 p.m. game at Syracuse (15–12, 6–8), which lost 101–64 Monday at No. 3 Duke.UNC won the first meeting 87–77 on Feb. 2 after blowing much of a 32-point lead.
— UNC’s previous largest deficit this season was 20 points in the 84–78 Jan. 17 loss at California.
— In the last two Carolina road games, both losses, UNC has combined to go 44 of 123 from the floor.
— The Tar Heels’ 33 3-point attempts were only exceeded this season by the 34 in the Jan. 21 home win over Notre Dame.
— The previous worst 3-point shooting effort was 17.4% in the loss to Michigan State
— Isaiah Dennis played for the first time since the Notre Dame game on Jan. 21
— UNC’s 25% first-half shooting was its worst in a half this season.
— The last two games and the 1978 game at N.C. State are the only games in the ACC era that UNC has played without both of its top two scorers.
— Williams, after scoring half of the Wolfpack’s first 12 points, fell face-first on the floor when fouling a driving Stevenson in the first half. Bleeding heavily with a towel over his left eye, he left for treatment in the dressing room. Normally No. 1, he came back to the bench later in the half wearing No. 34.
—N.C. State still trails UNC 166–82 in the all-time series, including 70–41 at State and 20–7 in the arena now called the Lenovo Center.
N.C. State 82, No. 16 UNC 58
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 3 Duke | 13–1 | 24–2 | 2 |
| No. 14 Virginia | 10–2 | 22–3 | 19 |
| Miami | 10–3 | 21–5 | 35 |
| Clemson | 10–3 | 20–6 | 31 |
| N.C. State | 10–4 | 19–8 | 29 |
| No. 16 North Carolina | 8–5 | 20–6 | 25 |
| No. 21 Louisville | 8–5 | 19–7 | 12 |
| SMU | 7–6 | 18–8 | 36 |
| California | 6–7 | 18–8 | 61 |
| Florida State | 6–7 | 13–13 | 82 |
| Virginia Tech | 6–8 | 17–10 | 58 |
| Syracuse | 6–8 | 15–12 | 70 |
| Stanford | 5–8 | 16–10 | 69 |
| Wake Forest | 4–8 | 13–12 | 65 |
| Notre Dame | 3–10 | 12–14 | 87 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–11 | 11–15 | 165 |
| Boston College | 2–11 | 9–17 | 152 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–11 | 9–17 | 124 |
* — Through Monday games
Monday’s result
No. 3 Duke 101, Syracuse 64
Tuesday’s results
N.C. State 82, No. 16 North Carolina 58
Florida State 80, Boston College 72
SMU 95, No. 21 Louisville 85
Miami 67, Virginia Tech 66
Wednesday’s games
Clemson at Wake Forest, 7 p.m., ACC Network
No. 14 Virginia at Georgia Tech, 9 p.m., ACC Network
Saturday’s games
Florida State at Clemson, noon, The CW
Wake Forest at Virginia Tech, noon, ACC Network
No. 16 North Carolina at Syracuse, 1 p.m., ABC
Miami at No. 14 Virginia, 2 p.m.
Notre Dame at Pittsburgh, 2 p.m., ACC Network
Georgia Tech at No. 21 Louisville, 2:15, The CW
Boston College at SMU, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Stanford at California, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 2 Michigan at No. 3 Duke, 6:30, ESPN
Monday’s game
No. 21 Louisville at No. 11 North Carolina, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday, Feb. 24, games
No. 3 Duke at Notre Dame, 7 p.m., ESPN
N.C. State at No. 14 Virginia, 7 p.m., ACC Network
Wake Forest at Boston College, 7 p.m., ESPNU
Miami at Florida State, 9 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 23 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 8 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 15 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 14 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 3 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | W, 79–65 | vs. Pittsburgh | 20–5, 8–4 |
| 17 | Tuesday | L, 82–58 | at N.C. State | 20–6, 8–5 |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 21 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 3 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photos by Smith Hardy
