Thing is, Keeter is Brian Keeter, a 6-foot-2 senior walk-on guard that plays for State.
Ouch.
As hurtful as it was for the Tar Heels to hear the gleeful N.C. State fans enjoying themselves so much in Dean Smith's own building, it was the score that stung the most: N.C. State 77, North Carolina 59.
The Tar Heels (5-11, 1-5 in the ACC) lost their sixth straight game, which they haven't done since 1950-51. They lost to N.C. State (15-4, 5-2) for the first time since Feb. 21, 1998. The State fans, though much outnumbered in the 21,750 sellout crowd, certainly got one Tar Heel's attention.
"It seems like there was a lot of red out there -- a lot of State fans," said Kris Lang, who led the ailing Tar Heels with 27 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the floor. UNC played without two of its starters -- scoring and rebound leader Jason Capel and freshman guard Jackie Manuel. Capel has not played since suffering a concussion on Jan. 15, and Manuel has a stress fracture in his left foot.
Without the scoring threats of Capel and Manuel, Lang was the focus of the Wolfpack's defense and center of the Tar Heels' heart on the floor. He did everything he could to singlehandedly keep the Tar Heels in the game, from a monstrous dunk that could have sparked a run to getting after his teammates when they made mistakes.
"(Lang) was unstoppable tonight," said N.C. State coach Herb Sendek. "We held him to 11 of 15 for 27 points. In the couple times we got him to throw it out, because of his presence, he opened up shots for his teammates."
While UNC went with the "Get the ball to Kris" strategy, Sendek's squad let everyone in on the action. Julius Hodge, Anthony Grundy and Archie Miller all scored in double figures.
The Wolfpack only seemed to get better as the game went on. The 'Pack made one more turnover in the second half than in the first, but Sendek said his team didn't take a single ill-advised shot the last 20 minutes of play.
