We thought that a combination of State's hunger, their improvement, and UNC's recent woes would give UNC a real chance in this game.
Nothing different though as the Heels rolled over State 74-55, but it wasn't that close, and it was frustrating to the Pack.
How frustrating? Check out Scott Woods:
"I don't know. Has your wife ever cheated on you? That's probably about how frustrating it is."
Clearly a man in no mood for stupid questions.
We thought that if State had a chance, they'd wear Kendall Marshall out on both ends of the court.
Didn't happen.
Marshall played 34 minutes and had 11 assists.
If they had managed to kill him, metaphorically speaking, the ball wouldn't have moved very well.
As it happened, Tyler Zeller and John Henson also were highly effective, more so after Richard Howell got in foul trouble with three in the first half. CJ Leslie also found the going tough inside.
Worth noting: Harrison Barnes was 7-13 for 15 points but managed just one rebound and no assists.
Up in Charlottesville, BC proved scrappy, but that wasn't enough to take the 'Hoos as Virginia prevailed 66-49.
It was a tie game at 44-44 with 10:29 left, but after Danny Rubin's three, Virginia very impressively limited BC to just two baskets and a foul shot for the rest of the game, and one of those baskets came with :26 left and was meaningless.
Virginia only allowed four attempts inside the three point line in the last 10:29.
BC attempted six threes in the last 10:29, missing them all.
In the absence of Assane Sene, it was very good news for Virginia to see a solid game out of Akil Mitchell, who finished with 10 points and five boards, and that Sammy Zeglinski heated up from outside.
No Friday games, as usual, but two interesting Saturday games: A desperate Virginia Tech visits an improving Maryland while rising powers State and Virginia square off for third place.