By all accounts, NC State basketball considers UNC its archrival. While the Tar Heels play along with that narrative sometimes, their consistent dominance in the series says otherwise, not to mention their far more evenly matched rivalry with their closer Tobacco Road neighbor, Duke.
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After all, as a result of the Wolfpack’s deflating 63-61 loss to the visiting Tar Heels on Saturday, NC State still hasn’t defeated UNC in consecutive games since 2003. No, the program in Raleigh failed to capitalize on any “rivalry” momentum it gained from knocking off Carolina in the 2024 ACC Tournament title bout.
So, it’s now been 22 years since Carolina fell short of bouncing back in the series after losing the previous meeting. In other words, the vast majority of undergrads at both schools weren’t alive the last time that happened.
The Tar Heels improved to 20-6 against the NC State basketball program in the Lenovo Center. They boast a 39-7 record in the series across the past 21 seasons. And they’re 56-14 versus the Wolfpack over the past 33 years.
In the all-time series, UNC basketball victories are more than double its losses. That 167-81 clip marks the Tar Heels’ most wins over any opponent in history.
NC State, sitting 9-7 overall this season, 2-3 in battles against the relatively weak ACC, and with no wins that its “rival” would deem to be of the quality variety, is now on the verge of needing nothing short of a miracle to earn an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
Kevin Keatts and his eighth Wolfpack squad hope to begin the process of what must be a drastic turnaround when they hit the road for a clash against Virginia Tech (7-9, 2-3 ACC) at 7 p.m. ET Wednesday (ESPNU).
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