North Carolina entered Saturday’s round of 32 game against No. 9 Michigan State as a 3.5-point favorite. The line showed the Spartans were no normal underdog in this one and were hungry for the upset.
They played like that early, building a 12-point lead over the Tar Heels in the first half. During that run to build the lead and throughout the game, the Spartans let the Tar Heels hear it on the court with the trash talk.
And it was a little surprising to the Tar Heels.
Following the game, forward Harrison Ingram spoke on what he heard during the game from the Spartans and stated he wasn’t bothered by it. Heck, it likely motivated UNC, which closed the first half on a 23-3 run to take a 40-31 lead at halftime.
“I haven’t seen a team talk like that since our scrimmage at the beginning of the year, yeah it was ridiculous,” Ingram said. “I was like what? For what? Now they’re going home, so they see what it got them. It fires me up. I love it. Please talk. I hope everybody talks to us, it gets us going.”
It was likely a mixture of the Spartans’ trash talk and Hubert Davis’ interview during the game. He took that message into the huddle, which was followed by the Tar Heels going on a big run to take the lead. They never really looked back.
There were a few heated moments after the whistle between the two teams but nothing escalated. But as Ingram said, the trash talking fired up the Tar Heels and now they are heading to the Sweet 16.
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