CHAPEL HILL � There�s an unspoken taboo against rushing the court after important victories at places such as North Carolina and Duke.
Those are the celebrations of the huddled masses, not two of college basketball�s most celebrated blue bloods � for whom big wins, even those of the emotional variety, are the expectation not the hope. But on this occasion, the Tar Heel faithful at the Smith Center couldn�t restrain themselves.
There was simply too much pent-up anticipation after last week�s weather-related postponement and the stirring second half comeback that led to Thursday�s 74-66 victory against the Blue Devils to keep the festivities confined to the restraints of the seating area. Whether the unusually raucous crowd of 21,750 was the spark that ignited UNC�s eighth straight victory overall and first in three years against its hated rival at home or vice versa is both uncertain and inconsequential.
All that matters is that the once-stumbling Tar Heels are rapidly rounding into the formidable team they were originally predicted to be. And that people are starting to take notice, even those who weren�t involved in the postgame crush of humanity that eventually spilled over to nearby Franklin Street until the wee hours of Friday morning.
Where once the Tar Heels (19-7, 9-4 ACC) would fall apart at the first sign of adversity, they�re now finding ways to embrace it and win no matter how desperate a situation they find themselves facing. On Monday at Florida State, they rallied from an early 15-point deficit in a game that saw star forward James Michael McAdoo foul out without scoring a single point. Three nights later they battled back from 11 points down against the nation�s fifth-ranked team by turning to an unusual defensive strategy � a 1-3-1 zone that rendered Duke�s shooting touch as cold as the wintery weather that kept the game from being played as scheduled last Wednesday.
UNC grabbed the momentum by holding the Blue Devils without a field goal for 8� minutes during the second half. It grabbed the lead at 62-60 on a McDonald jumper with 3:53 left. Once it did, it was clear coach Roy Williams� streaking team wasn�t about to give it back.
�We decided that with a crowd this great, with the momentum we�ve had, we had to get this game,� point guard Marcus Paige said afterward. �We really fought.
For whatever the reason, that was an element Duke lacked during a second half in which it made only 3 of 13 3-pointers, got outrebounded 23-15 and was outscored 44-29.
That life � or sense of urgency, as Williams likes to call it � has been by far the most important element in the Tar Heels� recent resurrection. It�s even more of a factor than the steady play of Paige and McAdoo, the steady emergence of young big men Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson, and a defense that has quietly become one of the ACC�s best.
It�s an energy that, like the momentum of an emotional comeback against a hated neighboring rival, is awfully hard to stop once it gets going in the right direction.
Especially at places in which winning is the expectation, not just the hope.