ACC Hoops: North Carolina Cruises By NC State, 97-73

Feb 19, 2025 

Chapel Hill, NC – RJ Davis scored 21 points, Seth Davis added 15 on 6-of-9 shooting and North Carolina never trailed Wednesday night as the Tar Heels beat in-state rival N.C. State 97-73 at the Smith Center. 

Ven-Allen Lubin added in 13 points and Ian Jackson scored 12 for North Carolina (16-11, 9-6 ACC). They were two of four Tar Heels who scored in double figures. 

Drake Powell made a layup that gave the Tar Heels the lead for good just over four minutes into the game, sparking a 10-0 run that made it 16-6 about three minutes later.  Trey Parker made two free throws at the other end but Seth Trimble answered with a jumper before Jackson and Jae’Lyn Withers each hit a 3-pointer in a 12-2 spurt that pushed the lead to 18 midway through the first half. 

UNC shot 57% (35 of 61) from the field, outrebounded the Wolfpack 40-21 and led by double digits for the final 33 minutes. With tonight’s win Carolina completes one of the most underrated streaks in Atlantic Coast Conference history: the Tar Heels are the only original league school to own at least one home-and-home sweep of an opponent in every season of league competition. 

On the other side N.C. State (10-16, 3-12) was led by Jayden Taylor’s 19 points and former Tar Heel Dontrez Styles added 18 points and 5 rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. Paul McNeil Jr. made 5 of 8 from the field and finished with 14 points in 14 minutes.  

While Marcus Hill Jr., the team’s leading scorer this season at 12.8 per game, scored a season-low two points. 

RJ Davis made just 6 of 18 from the field and 1 of 8 from 3-point range but went 8 for 8 from the free-throw line for the Tar Heels. 

The Wolfpack have lost 10 of their last 11 games. 

The Tar Heels have won seven straight home games against N.C. State and are 168-81 all-time versus the Wolfpack. Carolina is now 32-7 against State in the Smith Center,

40-7 against the Pack in the last 22 seasons. Those 168 wins are the most by Carolina against any opponent in program history. Seven of the last ten games in the series in the Smith Center have been double-digit UNC wins. It’s the 15th time in the last 21 years the Tar Heels have won both regular season meetings with the Wolfpack. 

UNC outscored NC State 43-26 in bench points. The Tar Heels opened up a 54-26 halftime lead as the Pack turned it over nine times and shot just 36 percent from the field. Despite shooting 55 percent in the final 20 minutes and only turning it over once, the Pack couldn’t make much of a dent into its deficit as the closest NC State got in the second half was 20 points. 

NC State hosts Wake Forest on Saturday at 2 pm while UNC plays host to Virginia at 4 pm.