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Off the cuff: "When life kicks you, let it kick you forward." That's one of many words of wisdom Kay Yow shared during her extraordinary life. I met Kay Yow when I helped coordinate her speech before the N.C. Bar Association several years ago. I became a fan of hers quickly - even going to a few Wolfpack women's games over the years. Because she had lived so long fighting cancer, and because she had so much life in her, I was actually surprised at her death even though I knew she had a recurrence.

It was nice to see that State fans have as much trouble matching pinks as Carolina fans have matching blues. It's nice that fans, players and coaches honored Yow in several ways but the effort shouldn't be relegated to a display during a game. How about an all-out, full-court press on breast cancer?

The late-game, near fight between UNC's Michael Copeland and State's Ben McCauley was much ado about nothing. I don't much blame either one for their reaction actually although I suppose both are to blame. I do not blame seldom-used players for trying to score, no matter what the score is and how much time is left. Coach Williams does however. I do somewhat blame McCauley for shouting "not in our house" to Copeland after a flagrant foul and Copeland for charging him after the hard foul. In the end, it was no big deal. It was amusing to hear the Carolina radio color commentator say they weren't going to make a big deal about it because neither coach wanted to make a big deal about it. I didn't know that was the criteria these days.

Bobby Frasor is going to need to get his shot going, especially since it appears that Marcus Ginyard won't be back this season. Frasor is getting a lot of minutes, primarily I assume because of his defense. He had several open shots but either didn't shoot or he missed. Once, he missed a three that he thought he had and he ran back down court while the ball bounced right back to where he had been. He's one of the best shooters on the team but you wouldn't know it this season. There's going to be a game where his shot is needed.

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Heels 93, Wolfpack 76
North Carolina runs past Wolfpack

North Carolina used a late first-half, early second-half run to bust open a close game and then survived several N.C. State runs to defeat the Wolfpack 93-76 at the RBC Center in Raleigh. (1/31)

Up just four at 28-24 with less than six minutes left in the first half, Carolina outscored State 15-7 to go into halftime with its biggest lead of the half of 12 points. A Danny Green follow shot in the last 25 seconds made it 43-31.

Jumpers by Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson, followed by free throws by Wayne Ellington in the first 3:15 of the second half, extended the Heels lead to 18 at 54-36. That proved to be the largest lead of the game as State cut the lead under 10 several times. But the Tar Heels responded quickly each time.

"We kept coming back and scoring two or three baskets in a row (after they'd make a run)," UNC coach Roy Williams said. Carolina, behind Lawson's speed, seemed to be able to beat the Wolfpack down the court anytime it needed - even after a State basket.

Hansbrough, seemingly embarrassed by the eight-point performance in the previous game, was determined to do well and he did, scoring 31 points. "He was more into it and intense," Williams said.

As a team the Tar Heels shot much better than they had been, shooting nearly 57 percent from the floor for the game. The Wolfpack, who stayed in the game with three-point shooting, nonetheless finished by shooting only 42 percent for the game.

State's Courtney Fells had a second-half stretch where he hit seven of eight baskets to draw the Wolfpack within seven at 69-62 with just over eight minutes to play.

But a Lawson driving basket following by a fast-break bucket by Danny Green off a Lawson feed put the Heels back up by 11 at 74-63. An old-fashioned three-point play by Lawson pushed the lead to 15 at 78-63. State got the lead down to eight a couple of times but Carolina quickly responded each time.

A three-point shot by Hansbrough put the Heels up 89-72 with 2:30 left to put icing on the cake. Four other UNC players joined Hansbrough in double figures. Lawson scored 16, Green had 14, Ellington added 12 and Deon Thompson finished with 10.

The win marked the 11th victory over the rival Wolfpack in the last 12 meetings.

Carolina, which hosts Maryland Tuesday, moves to 19-2 and 5-2 in the ACC while N.C. State falls to 11-8 and 2-5 in the league.

Boxscore

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