A very intense game between UNC and NC State on Saturday

ACC columnist for Saturday Road, my friend Brett Friedlander joins us at Be Freed ACC. All right, sir, let's talk about the Wolfpack and the Tar Heels from Saturday. I love your piece about this being really a rivalry game and North Carolina has owned this rivalry for what, five out of the last 40 have gone the way of the Wolfpack. Part of that is, I think for the most part, they've had better players and better coaching over the last several, maybe the last 50 years, better players and better coaching.

Give me your read, your bit blank canvas, what you saw Saturday afternoon. Well, first of all, take out, oh say the first five years of the 1970s and this has always been a one-sided rivalry, but what I saw was an actual rivalry. You know, you have a hammer, you have a nail and it kind of gets old after a while and they chant, not our rival, but you could tell right from the get-go that this one really, the Tar Heels and more importantly, the Tar Heels fans in the building were taking this one seriously and it's because State has got a good team this year, but it just seemed a little bit different and just the tone of play, it got very chippy even before the Turquavian Smith leaky black incident and then after that, we had Casey Morsell kind of clocking Caleb Love in the face. This was an actual rivalry game and that's something we really haven't seen from UNC and State, from both sides that is. Usually it's just the one side, but I liked it and you know, as I wrote in my column, it sometimes takes something more than geography to really make a rivalry an actual rivalry, you know, to get bad blood going and maybe this is the spark that does that.

Yeah, you referenced the Duke, North Carolina, the origin of the Art Heyman, Larry Miller dust up back, what, 1960 or 1961. See, I looked at this game going in and maybe I was wrong, but I looked at it going in and that UNC needed the win more. Forget about the rivalry part of this and I think the rivalry is real, obviously, but I thought UNC needed a win, a good win, not necessarily more than NC State needed a good win, but their resume is kind of empty and they needed a good win and I think they played better, but it was a game that I think is befitting a rival simply because it was so hard fought, it was so physical. Did you feel like it was officiated that way?

I mean, look, I'm not trying to be, you know, I'm not trying to lead the witness here. I feel like it was about officiated about as well as it could be. I realize that NC State doesn't agree with that. Well, let's just look at statistics here.

Let's let the numbers talk. Coming into this game, UNC was the team that got to the foul line the most in the ACC, okay? NC State was the team that sent other teams to the foul line more than anybody else in the league, so that in itself is going to create a disparity theoretically. Now, was it officiated as well as it could have been?

No, I don't think so. There were some touch fouls outside that may have been a little bit, you know, iffy and all that, but for the most part, Carolina attacked the rim and State shot three-pointers and in that particular, you know, dynamic, one team's going to get more fouls called on it than the other, and it's the team that is defending the rim and shooting the threes. I did not know about those stats going into the game. Brett Friedlander is joining us.

Those are great numbers by you. I watched the game. I watched the game after I knew the outcome.

I did not watch it. I didn't get a chance to do it because I had other things until yesterday, and I watched knowing what the free throw disparity was, so I was looking for, oh, did NC State get screwed, and I didn't find it. I found that the game, in terms of free throw disparity, and I've always said that is the worst proof that you've got that the game was officiated one way or the other is to simply point to that, and it wasn't even fouls at the end. It was fouls throughout the game. Where did State commit the fouls, and my takeaway was, boy, State fouled a lot.

And you know what else too, Adam? They had Bacott in foul trouble. He had three fouls early in the second half, and they didn't take Adam, and, you know, get the ball in there, and even if DJ Burns has got foul trouble, he's on the bench, get the ball inside, post up on him, and get him to make that fourth foul, and I didn't think State was aggressive enough in doing that, and those are the type of things that I'm talking about.

They settled, and when you don't put the other team in a position to commit fouls, they're not going to commit them. I actually think that State's defense was too good, and Carolina's defense was at times too passive. There were so many wide open shots that State took, and they hit a lot. I mean, I thought State played a pretty good basketball game, so, but there were so many wide open looks, I'm like, well, you're not going to get a foul there because of where the shots were, but if you look at where UNC was doing a lot of their work around the rim, Bacott had a big game, obviously, so did R.J. Davis. I thought R.J. Davis was the best player in the game, and I think if UNC could get the best version of Caleb Love, they'd have something, but we just haven't seen that. Where do you see North Carolina's, where they are right now? I think North Carolina's in a fine, they're okay.

Listen, I think North Carolina's biggest problem is between the ears as opposed to physically, and of course, they've had injuries. They need to get Pete Nance more involved, and yeah, Caleb either needs to make more shots or not take as many shots and let R.J. do the shooting, but I just think this, to me, this smacks of a team that got to the first Monday in April last year. That's their goal, and it's like, let's get this regular season over with and get to the games that matter. Sometimes you can see they're really engaged, like Saturday when they had a sense of urgency and they really needed a win, and then sometimes they, you know, like Boston College for a lot of that game, they just kind of go through the motions and do what they have to, and so I think they're fine. I don't think it's time to panic. I think this team is in a much better spot than it was last year because I think they've got the experience, and they've got Baycott, and you never know when good Caleb is going to show up.

I think they're just waiting to flip the switch, to be honest with you. Good Caleb, great Caleb is a game changer for them. I think if we see the Caleb love we saw on Saturday, which was just okay, if we see that Caleb love, I think they'll probably make the tournament and kind of be, you know, pretty quiet and maybe bow out after a win, but great Caleb is a second weekend of the NCAA tournament. UCLA last year, Caleb. Yeah, I mean it doesn't even have to be that because he was next level there, but just a better version of Caleb love gives them a chance.

I don't believe they have another dynamic other than what those three guys give them. I love RJ Davis, and I loved him last year. I think he's incredibly solid. Let me flip this over to NC State. It appears that Terquavian Smith is going to be okay.

He might even play tomorrow against Notre Dame. I thought State was really good. The game got away from him, just like any game can get away from any team in a hostile environment down the stretch against a team playing well like UNC was. Where do you think State is? Especially against a team that lives rent-free in NC State's head, and has for a long time too.

I think NC State is fine. As long as Terquavian is healthy and himself, they're an NCAA tournament team. Ernest Ross has been a game changer these last few games. I mean, he has come out of nowhere and really been a factor.

You figure Dusan Mihorsic is going to be back at some point, it seems. They've got a legit point guard. They've got some depth. L.J.

Thomas gives them some good numbers. Casey Morsell is the ultimate Swiss Army knife. Remember what Theo Pinson was to those championship NC State?

Well, that's what Casey Morsell is, with a jump shot. I think it's clearly an NCAA tournament team. I think there's a big week for NC State.

I think they need to bounce back whether Terquavian is available or not. They're playing a bad Notre Dame team. They cannot afford to lose that game. And then they go up to Wake, which is going to be one of those bubble against bubble games. Win there, and they're in really good shape.

Actually, I'm not even sure it's bubble versus bubble. I think it's two teams that belong in the NCAA tournament, in my view. But I understand what you're saying about that.

Yeah, the Notre Dame game is a don't lose that game. But if they get Mahortridge back, and if Jack Clark can come back... I mean, I love their depth. And their backcourt is as good as any backcourt.

I mean, I love Sneaky on the low. I'm not sure that Joyner isn't at times better than Terquavian Smith. He's more efficient.

I think Terquavian just needs to be a little bit more judicious with the shots he takes. If he gets just a higher level of efficiency, I think their offense is going to be absolutely dynamite and would give him two really good post players if Mahortridge comes back. And you combine that with the way they're playing defense since the start of the year. I mean, they're just playing like banshees. And that's one of the things that kind of let them down. They played too hard on defense against Carolina, and they fouled.

But yeah, that's a great combination. I'm glad you brought up the defense because I think that's been key. They're playing the best half court defense I have seen NC State play under Kevin Keats. Real quick, I don't know how much of Duke-Miami you got a chance to see. It was a rock fight. And John Shire said it after the game that this is the type of team or type of game that Duke is going to have to play.

One where they just kind of grind it out. And it's kind of funny when you have theoretically all the talent that they've got, that that's how they have to play. But when you watch them, that's how they have to play. They're a different team at home than they are on the road. And they're a greatly different team when Jeremy Roach is healthy and playing than they are when he's not. I think that the key to this Duke team is going to be Darique Whitehead. And if he emerges, and you can see it kind of starting, but he's the one guy on that team, I think, who's got the offensive capability to take games over, hasn't yet. If he can learn how to do that, and he can assert himself and do that, that gives them the dynamic that they, I think, need.

But right now, you're right. This is a grinded out, blue collar team. And you would never expect that from a Duke team. Yeah, it's almost like an old school team.

And I go back to the team that John Shire was on when they won the national championship in 2010. And that was a grinded out, blue collar team. And that's kind of what this team has to be. They don't really have, as you said, don't really have anybody who can create their own offense.

But to me, the number one exciting thing that I saw out of that game for the Blue Devils is Tyrese Proctor knocking down open shots. If that happens, then Duke is just a little bit better. Because that is the element, somebody to consistently knock down open shots that Duke hasn't had. Duke was 9 of 21 from three-point range against Miami. And if they can get some decent three-point shooting, it just might open up some stuff.

And also, Derek Lively played his best game, I thought. Yeah, you know what? Adding that element at the perimeter spreads defenses out. It gives more spacing. And boy, Filipowski's already really good.

And giving him a little bit more room to operate. You're right. Lively and Mitchell, that makes them a lot different team.

But yeah, they have to find somebody to give them that element. So what did Lively end up with? 6 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots in 18 minutes? Yeah, right. That's insane. But you know, both he and Whitehead missed almost all of preseason. And this is about the time now that they're finally starting to catch up.

So maybe they're still a team with a really high ceiling. Brett Friedlander, I appreciate your time, my man. The ACC columnist, Saturday Road, follow him on Twitter, at BeFreedACC. You're a gentleman, I'll talk to you later. Thanks, always for you, Adam. Oh man, that is very nice. My ego makes me blush. Well, you know, after this weekend with the picks and stuff. Oh no, so you think that's it? People taking pity on me? It's very possible.