Not our rival.
The chant that keeps going, and keeps breaking the heart of every State fan out there. You really aren’t our rival. But tonight’s game was truly a fun one to watch.
For a while there I just couldn’t get situated. Little known fact, I’m superstitious. If I was scratching my ear and Hubert hit all of his free throws, Lord knows I’ll be scratching that same ear for the rest of the game. But, for this game, I just couldn’t find the right position of my hands. I kept waiting for that moment when we shined through. When we took the lead and just sailed by the five man wolfpack. But there was never that one moment.
We looked scrappy. There were moments when it looked like we had complete control, and then the next minute we’d missed a lay-up and turned over the ball. But maybe that’s just what happens when you’re about to hit 10 wins in a row.
Let me remind you, before this streak, the Tar Heels were 1-4 in the ACC. They were unranked, and they just didn’t have IT on the court. But then Marcus Paige woke up. And Kennedy Meeks, and Brice Johnson, and even Leslie McDonald against Duke. Somewhere, out of the dust, came a Carolina basketball team. And they’ve been great. But they truly are a second-half team.
In tonight’s match-up, Marcus Paige scored just four points in the first half, but had a whopping 25 in the second half and then another 10 in overtime. He scored 10 out of our 14 points in overtime, putting the Heels just one over State in an 85-84 victory. Imagine what would happen if he played like that all game.
In an interview before the Duke game, Paige said, “I’m just thinking, and I know that’s happened quite a few times (Paige having a poor first half), I’m thinking that I still have the ability to notch up my intensity and my focus a whole ‘nother level in the second half. But I still don’t really like, I feel like I should be doing more in the first half. But at the same time I understand that when my team needs me to make plays in the second half, then I need to step up and make those plays. I’ve been able to do that with some success recently.”
He has been able to do that with success. A lot of success, but unfortunately the game of basketball, or any sport for that matter, isn’t only about the second half. It’s 40 minutes of basketball. And tonight, it was 40 minutes to really ‘own’ the state. Had this been a home game for the Heels, you would have been able to hear the chant “Not our Rival” over the commentators, because all the Tar Heels care about is Duke.
I mean, honestly, we say “Go to Hell Duke” at the end of our alma mater. And Duke says “Go to Hell Carolina.” Where in that equation does State fall? If you answered nowhere, then you were correct. We expect to beat you. We do beat you. And yet you still try and argue with us.
Tonight was a mistake. I’ll admit, you played well. Anya might have had the best game of his life. And our players struggled. But consider this. The Tar Heels beat State while we were playing poorly and you were playing well. That doesn’t say much about the Wolfpack. So congratulations. You challenged us. You took us to overtime. But, in the end, Carolina athletics wins again.
So I shall close with one of my favorite tunes:
Hark the sound of Tar Heel voices
Ringing clear and true.
Singing Carolina’s praises.
Shouting N-C-U.
N-C-U !
Hail to the brightest star of all
Clear its radiance shine
Carolina priceless gem.
Receive all praises thine.
I’m a Tar Heel born, I’m a Tar Heel bred.
And when I die, I’m a Tar Heel dead.
So it’s rah-rah, Car’lina-‘lina!
Rah-rah, Car’lina-‘lina!
Rah-rah, Car’lina-‘lina!
Go to hell DUKE!
And just for the fun of it, read Adam Lucas’ article on Marcus Paige.