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North Carolina finished its 20-year stay in Carmichael Auditorium the way it started, with a victory.
The No. 1 Tar Heels downed North Carolina State, 90-79, Saturday, marking North Carolina's final home game in the 10,000-seat structure at Chapel Hill, N.C. The Tar Heels will move to their new 21,000-seat Student Activities Center with a game Jan. 18 against Duke.
The history of the moment was lost on North Carolina center Brad Daugherty, who scored a game-high 28 points.
"I totally forgot this was the last game. I had heard it said so many times, I just forgot," Daugherty said. "I didn't realize it until there were just about 10 minutes to go. I think we all forgot."
The Tar Heels were 169-20 at Carmichael Auditorium.
North Carolina, 14-0 overall and 1-0 in the ACC, failed to be distracted by pregame publicity and proceeded to tear into North Carolina State.
North Carolina State, which had a five-game winning streak snapped, fell to 8-4.
"Coming off those five victories, I thought we could come in here and play well and we did," said North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano. "What we've got to learn is how to handle the runs a good team will make during a ball game. The good teams will come back."
Valvano made his bid to become an historical footnote by sinking a basket after the game's conclusion, claiming he had made the last field goal in Carmichael.
Leading 39-36 at halftime, North Carolina broke the game broke open with a 7-0 spurt over a three-minute span in the second half. A jump shot from the key by forward Joe Wolf put the Tar Heels ahead 80-69 with 3:10 to play. North Carolina State never got closer than nine points after that.
Wolf, a 6-10 junior, also grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds for the Tar Heels to help...