In a game that was delayed a day by a snowstorm, NC State’s coach said it was a perfect storm on the court for the Tar Heels as North Carolina dominated its rival 107-56.

It was the most points Carolina has ever scored against the Wolfpack in 231 meetings and it was the largest margin of victory in the modern era and the most since a 62-10 victory in 1921.

“It was the perfect storm,” NC State coach Mark Gottfried said. “They were really good and we played as bad as we could possibly play.”

The Wolfpack turned the ball over 26 times, twice their 13 turnover average, and they shot only 37 percent.

While UNC was hot offensively, it was on the defensive end where Carolina just punished State. The Tar Heels came up with 17 steals and got 15 more rebounds than the visitors.

Leading just 6-4, the Tar Heels went on a 20-0 run over the next six minutes to take control of the game at 26-4. During that stretch, State’s top scorer Dennis Smith picked up a couple of fouls and then picked up his third soon thereafter.

“We were pretty doggone good,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “Dennis getting his third foul early was a huge part of it too.”

Coach Williams said he placed an emphasis on pushing the ball up the court but that it was the defense that set the tone. “It was awfully pretty at times,” he said.

Carolina’s 56-23 halftime advantage after leading scorer Justin Jackson (21 points) trained a three in the waning seconds was the largest lead of the first half. It was State’s lowest scoring half of the season.

Any thoughts that the second half might be different evaporated early when State was called for a shot clock violation and Carolina’s Jackson threw assists to Isaiah Hicks and Kennedy Meeks for dunks to make it 60-25.

The lead never got smaller than 26 points while the Tar Heels worked the margin up to 51 when Theo Pinson, back after missing the first 16 games to injury, threw a long pass to Tony Bradley for a bucket with 5:16 left making it 99-48.

In addition to Jackson’s 21 points, three other Tar Heels averaged in double figures with Joel Berry scoring 19 while Hicks and Bradley scored 11. Three others – Meeks, Kenny Williams and Luke May – scored nine points.

Carolina improves to 14-3 and 2-1 in the ACC while NC State falls to 12-4.

For a box score and more commentary on the game, please click here.