UNC Saves Itself From Tying Historic Losing Streak vs. NC State

CHAPEL HILL – History repeated itself for the N.C. State Wolfpack, and it did not for the North Carolina Tar Heels, which made all of the difference. 

Tonight’s game at the Dean E. Smith Center was a must-win for both teams. 20-plus wins should guarantee an NCAA Tournament bid for N.C. State, and North Carolina wanted to avoid tieing a 70-year-old-record of eight consecutive ACC losses.

UNC fought back from a slow start and defeated N.C. State  85-79 behind the play of senior forward Garrison Brooks who finished with 30 points and 9 rebounds.

Carolina took their first lead of the game with just over a minute left in the first half. The real question, what happened to N.C. State’s senior guard Markell Johnson?

He started the on a role – scoring 8-of-10 points on their 10-0 run with 17:35 left. UNC fans held their breaths as it looked like another debacle in the Smith Center, but Johnson headed to the bench with an apparent injury with 16:42. State went on an 8-3 run with Johnson while Johnson sat on the bench for just over three minutes. 

He only scored two points the remainder of the half. 

UNC played through Brooks once Manny Bates picked up his second foul with 13:45 left. Brooks finished with 13 points and four rebounds, at halftime as the Tar Heels led the Wolfpack 40-37. and an already short Wolfpack bench had four players with two fouls. 

Coming out of the break, Johnson scored eight consecutive points before the first media timeout, and the Wolfpack led 48-44. But once again, he went cold, and the Tar Heels ignited their offense through  Brooks and graduate guard Christian Keeling who finished with 16 points off the bench.

UNC held a 10-point lead, their largest of the game to that point with 7:02 left in the game. 

The Wolfpack brought the lead to 75-72 with 2:12 left in the game, but Carolina made 9-of-11 free-throws down the stretch.

UNC freshman guard Cole Anthony finished with 19 points, five rebounds and five assists. After going scoreless for 14-plus minutes, Johnson finished as N.C. State’s leading scorer with 21 points.

What’s Next 

North Carolina travels on the road to play the Syracuse Orange (15-12, 8-8 ACC) Saturday, Feb. 29, at 4 p.m.  

N.C. State hosts the Pittsburgh Panthers at PNC Arena Saturday, Feb. 29, at noon (15-13, 6-11 ACC) 

(Feature image courtesy of Landon Bost from the first matchup between the schools at PNC Arena in Raleigh, Monday, Jan. 27, 2020. UNC defeated N.C. State 75-65).