Jan

A Revivalry?

The legendary basketball rivalry in the Triangle has always been State/Carolina. However since the Fire and Ice era, State has struggled with its basketball program, and the flower on that rivalry has faded. In the last 17 meetings, UNC has won 16 times. In NCSU era since Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning “travelled”, State has only beaten the Heels in 11 of the 45 meetings.

This year’s NCSU team, while not a factor nationally, has many quality tools and is showing that it can do many right things under new coach Mark Gottfried. With UNC’s uncertainty since the season-ending Strickland injury last Thursday, tonight’s matchup may be one of the most interesting games between the two in decades. It is one of the first times in a while that State fans can enter this game reasonably hoping for a win, and that makes this game a lot more fun.

I’ve said all season that State and Carolina will split their regular season series, but I think that State win will come in the second meeting. Though tonight’s game should be a good one worthy of ESPN’s hype last night. The game starts at 7pm and is on ESPN.

Sean Lennard

Dana – I’ll take Carolina in game two. Loser buys lunch.
Justin

Still think there’ll be a split?
Dana

Justin,
A split is still VERY possible. COnsider the ’07 season when UNC won in Chapel Hill by 19 but missed the Wayne Ellington 3 that would have won it in Raleigh. These two teams/two years are quite similar. UNC _cannot_ shoot from the right side of the court and Marshall cannot stay in front of his man. Why State didn’t exploit this last night is bewildering.
For the first qtr of the game it was a very tight game. The difference came when Howell and Leslie were stymied inside and State resorted to some impatient outside shots. When they didn’t fall, State didn’t get back on defense. Carolina only scored 0.87 points per possession, which is a problem. Hopefully they can integrate Bullock into the offense better than last night. UNC’s interior D won that game last night. If Gottfried will watch game film of Carolina and realize that he needs to use Lorenzo Brown to penetrate and dish, then State will draw many more fouls inside instead of getting stuffed.
Feb 21 is a long, long way off. These two teams will be very different by then, too. Either State will lose its legs due to it’s 7-man rotation or they will jel. Carolina will probably only be challenged at Duke, at UVA, and at NCSU. They will lose one or two of those. So, we’ll see.

Posted by Dana on January 26, 2012 | Tags: Sports . | ( 3 ) Comments

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A Revivalry?

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