North Carolina Tar Heels vs Michigan State Spartans Basketball Recap

North Carolina 67 - Michigan State 55

In the de-facto tip-off of the 2011-12 college basketball season, North Carolina defeated Michigan State 67-55 in the inaugural Carrier Classic. The game was played on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson, a Nimitz class nuclear-powered US Navy aircraft carrier in the harbor of Coronado, California, at the North Island Naval Air Station near San Diego. The Veterans Day game was an auspicious start to the college hoops season with President Barack Obama and the First Lady in attendance, along with honorary team captains James Worthy for the Tar Heels and Magic Johnson for the Spartans, among many other celebrities and active and retired military veterans.

The game pitted preseason No. 1 North Carolina against Tom Izzo’s unranked Michigan State team. MSU had laid the ground work for this ground-breaking season opener three years ago, probably anticipating that the Tar Heels would be rebuilding following yet another year of defections to the NBA; North Carolina won the NCAA championship against Michigan State in 2009 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. However, the Spartans were mistaken: UNC returned a nearly full squad from the 2010-11 seasons, including forwards John Henson, Tyler Zeller, and Harrison Barnes.

The Tar Heels started with a 6-0 run, but poor shooting allowed the Spartans to lead for most of the first half before UNC stormed back into the lead, 21-19, with about seven minutes remaining, and finished the half with an 11-point lead at 36-25. Condensation on the court was a problem just after sunset when the crew of the Carl Vinson performed its end-of-day ceremony. Spartan freshman Brenden Dawson appeared to slip on the mid-court advertisement sticker with about four minutes remaining in the half and appeared to have a knee injury; but speculation that condensation would persist seemed to be unfounded, and there were no serious moisture problems for the remainder of the game. Dawson returned to the game in the second half and appeared to be fine.

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North Carolina did not allow its lead to fall below ten points before finishing the game with the 12-point victory. The Tar Heels were led by Barnes with 17 points and five rebounds. Henson had 12 points, nine blocks, and seven rebounds; Zeller had nine points and six rebounds. Guard Dexter Strickland had 10 points and five assists with only one turnover.

Michigan State fought valiantly and showed a strong inside presence, but UNC was just too much for Izzo’s young squad. Draymond Green led the Spartans with 13 points and 18 rebounds. Dawson had 10 points and seven rebounds, and Adreian Payne also contributed 10 points. Point guard Keith Appling fouled out with 8 minutes to go with five points and four turnovers.

UNC shot 47% from the field to MSU’s 31%. The Tar Heels out-blocked the Spartans 11-3, but Michigan State out-rebounded North Carolina 42-31. North Carolina flies home to play at UNC-Asheville on Sunday for its next game, near coach Roy Williams‘home in Marion, N.C. Michigan State’s next game will be at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Monday night against the Duke Blue Devils. Izzo will coach against Mike Krzyzewski in the game where Coach K will be trying to unseat Bob Knight as the winningest coach in Division I history.

By: David Minter
DFN Sports Staff Writer