Smith Center at 40: The 10 Greatest Wins

When it opened, the two most common adjectives were “big” and “blue.” Forty years later, we can add “old” to the Dean Smith Center. At least in basketball years. When it turns 40 on Jan. 18, it will have served as North Carolina’s basketball home far longer than any venue in UNC history, more than twice as long as Carmichael Auditorium.

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Heading into this season, the “Dean Dome” has witnessed 489 wins against 90 losses, an 84% winning percentage. It hosted four national championship teams as well as 12 Final Four teams, 14 ACC regular season winners (three shared) and eight ACC Tournament winners. 

With a capacity of 21,750, still the nation’s largest on-campus basketball arena, and larger than any in the NBA, it remains a centerpiece of Carolina culture. Here’s a list of the top UNC wins in the building’s history. 

1) North Carolina 75, Duke 73
March 6, 2005
The Put Back

The details flood back like words of a familiar hymn.

Senior Night. Nine down with 3:07 left. Roy Williams promising his team a win if they would trust what he said. Sean May with 26 and 24. A backcourt steal. Raymond Felton with the ball, down one on the last possession – a chance to redeem the disaster in Durham a month before.

Scrapping for a missed free throw. The put back, the loudest moment in Smith Center history. Court storming. Net cutting. Tears from seniors giving their speeches. Also from J.J. Redick.

But, above all, getting past Duke. Finally. Carolina had lost 15 of 17 to the Blue Devils, a period covering three coaches and the infamous 8-20 season. Yet with 3:07 left, Lee Melchionni’s fifth 3-pointer of the half put Duke ahead 73-64. 

Then this happened. Duke missed free throws, turned the ball over. May completed a three-point play. David Noel reached behind Daniel Ewing to pop the ball loose, Felton dove on it and called time with 27.8 seconds left, down one.

Earlier at Duke, Carolina had failed to get a shot on the final possession. This time Felton drew a foul, making the first, missing the second. But in the scramble for the rebound, Marvin Williams recovered and scored in one motion, drawing a foul and an ear-ringing Smith Center exultation.

Redick’s final miss, capping a scoreless second half, only amplified the noise. Carolina had its first outright regular-season title since 1993. But a regular-season title is not what flooded the court with students.

“So this is what it is supposed to mean to be a North Carolina basketball player,” the Raleigh News & Observer wrote.

Why it ranks here: This necessary step past Duke propelled UNC to the national championship.

2) North Carolina 75, Duke 73
February 5, 1992
Bloody Montross

Duke’s best team was on its way to a second consecutive championship and fifth straight Final Four. North Carolina was improving but young. But on this night, they had effort, emotion and a raucous crowd. Which turned out to be enough. 

Trailing by one, Carolina scored the first 10 of the second half, keyed by 7-foot Eric Montross, who wound up with 12 points, nine rebounds, three blocks and two bloody head wounds requiring stitches. Yet Duke, winners of 23 straight, tied it less than a minute later, although failing to take the lead when Bobby Hurley missed two technical foul shots. The game stayed close, and a Christian Laettner putback with a minute to go tied it at 73.

Derrick Phelps’ two free throws gave the Tar Heels the lead with 44 seconds left, then Carolina withstood two Laettner misses, ending a 4-for-11 night. When Phelps dribbled away the last seconds, students and alums flooded the floor in what the N&O called “group catharsis.”

Why it ranks here: A program win stating that Carolina is still Carolina, while vaulting an improving group to a national title the following year.

3) North Carolina 82, Florida State 77
January 27, 1993
The Comeback

The year before, Florida State, in its first ACC game, beat a listless Tar Heel team on a Sunday night in Chapel Hill in mid-December. “This is not a Duke kind of crowd,” guard Sam Cassell said. “It’s more like a cheese and wine crowd, kind of laid back.”

Ouch. He actually said “cheese and wine,” which became infamously misquoted as “wine and cheese,” a moniker that stuck with the Smith Center crowd. 

Cue up one year later. Florida State led now-national contender North Carolina, 65-44, with 11:31 left. Henrik Rodl hit a 3-pointer, Carolina’s first in 15 attempts. Still, FSU led by 20 with 9:30 left when Carolina got the next 15. A Seminole technical foul and more turnovers later, the lead was down to one with under two minutes left, sending the crowd into hysterics. 

Charlie Ward, Heisman-winning QB in football, lofted a cross-court pass. George Lynch, reading him like a free safety, intercepted at midcourt – Ward’s 10^th turnover – and sailed in for a dunk, giving Carolina the lead. This one was over. 

“The crowd was fantastic, got into it from start to finish,” said Cassell, magnanimous in defeat.

Why it ranks here: The Tar Heels gained the belief they could win in any circumstance. They trailed by double digits in three NCAA Tournament games and won them all. And the national championship.

4) North Carolina 75, Maryland 63
January 27, 2000
The Snow Game

With Cassell’s assessment still haunting the program, the Smith Center missed not having students seated at courtside. This game changed that. With 20 inches of snow on the ground, UNC allowed any student who could get there to sit in the lower level. They did, and they brought the noise with them.

Carolina needed it. Losers of four consecutive games, the Tar Heels fell behind by 11 points before rallying, largely behind Julius Peppers, and held the Terps without a field goal over the final 5½ minutes, which ended with a student court-storming. 

“That was great, that’s what other teams have that we don’t,” UNC’s Jason Capel said. 

Why it ranks here: UNC installed risers seating 200 students at one baseline before the next season, forever changing the Smith Center atmosphere. 

5) North Carolina 97, Duke 73
February 5, 1998
The Double Blowout

What’s better than blowing out your top-ranked rival? How about doing it twice in the same game.

As a record 22,050 looked on, the second-ranked Tar Heels roared to a 20-point lead, squandered all but four points, then built it back to 24 on a furious close. Antawn Jamison famously scored 35 points on 14-of-20 shooting while possessing the ball only 53 seconds, a master class in efficient, quick moves, most of them set up by Ed Cota (12 points, 12 assists).

After Duke cut a 10-point lead to four on one trip down the court – aided by a technical foul – Carolina scored the final 18 on 11 possessions, leading to the most lopsided win against Duke in 15 years. The celebration bordered on silly, featuring a famous missed dunk and Shammond Williams trying to high-five a referee.

Why it ranks here: A night of prolonged ecstasy during a year in which both rivals were excellent. Carolina would win the ACC Tournament (over Duke) and reach the Final Four.

6) UNC 86, Duke 72
March 4, 2007
Bloody Hansbrough

For 39 minutes and 45½ seconds, this was a fairly mundane game by Carolina-Duke Senior Night standards. The struggling Tar Heels, who would finish fifth in the ACC with a loss, rode Tyler Hansbrough’s 26 points and 17 rebounds to lead throughout. After Duke rallied to within two in the second half, four Blue Devil turnovers and five Marcus Ginyard points sparked a 14-2 run, and it was over. 

Well, not quite. With 14.5 seconds left, Hansbrough was fouled. He missed, then missed again, but gathered the rebound. Then the most flagrant foul in the history of a storied rivalry. The sight of a bloodied Hansbrough rising to his feet, ready to commit mayhem, was indelible. As was Gerald Henderson’s perp walk to the locker room after his ejection.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski added a memorable denouement by declaring Henderson to be the “real victim.” 

Why it ranks here: More “iconic moment” than historic win, but iconic enough to land on this list.

7) UNC 74, Duke 66
February 20, 2014
The Snow Make-up Game

As with the Bloody Montross game, sometimes Carolina and its fans simply declare “enough” and win a game on pure passion and intensity. Duke, ranked fifth, was getting one-and-done recruits. Unranked Carolina was losing players to NCAA rules violations.

Eight days before, snow fell so rapidly the Blue Devils couldn’t make the eight-mile trip to Chapel Hill, delaying the game, which somehow heightened the atmosphere. Yet Duke led by nine with 14 minutes left before going scoreless the next nine minutes. The Tar Heels slowly clawed back, and unlikely hero Leslie McDonald put Carolina ahead with four minutes left and Marcus Paige closed the game, as he often did that season, with key late baskets.

The court-storming was inevitable and immediate. Media reported the building had never been louder. 

Why it ranks here: A rabid fanbase wouldn’t let this Tar Heel team, headed nowhere, lose again to Duke.

8) North Carolina 81, Duke 67
March 5, 2011
Dexter’s Dunk

In mid-January, the Tar Heels’ 2011 season was sinking. They finished last in a tournament in Puerto Rico and lost at Georgia Tech, a future 5-11 team, by 20 points. Their starting point guard quit the team. 

In Durham, Carolina led fifth-ranked Duke by 14 at the half but lost. But the Heels won the next six heading into a Senior Night rematch with Duke to determine first place in the ACC.

The Tar Heels dominated, holding Duke to one field goal the final 10:55. With the crowd roaring as Carolina bled the clock’s last minute, guard Dexter Strickland drove the lane and threw down a dunk, setting off court-storming and net-cutting. 

Why it ranks here: One of the great in-season turnarounds was dampened by losing big to Duke a week later in the ACC final. 

9) North Carolina 103, Clemson 93 (2OT)
February 10, 2008
The Hansbrough Steal

With Clemson at 0-52 all-time in Chapel Hill, this one didn’t figure to leave Roy Williams the proudest he had ever been of a team. But the Tigers led the Tar Heels, without Ty Lawson, by 15 with about 3 minutes left.

Then Carolina went off. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Danny Green cut it to two, and Quentin Thomas, a senior backup guard, hit a layup to force overtime. Then he made two free throws to force a second one.

With Carolina up three and less than 2 minutes left, Tyler Hansbrough, who wound up with 39 points and 13 rebounds, knocked the ball from Clemson’s David Potter at midcourt, then fought him for it in the ensuing scrum. Hansbrough won it, was fouled and made two free throws to extend the lead. Ballgame.

Why it ranks here: Home wins over Clemson don’t typically become memorable or require heroic comebacks. But that late-game sequence encapsulated Tyler Hansbrough.

10) North Carolina 95, Duke 92
January 18, 1986
The First Game

After six years of construction, the twice-delayed opener featured top-ranked Carolina vs. third-ranked Duke before the largest crowd to watch a basketball game in North Carolina or the ACC. Carolina played sound defense, opportunistic offense – the Tar Heels made three jump shots the entire game – and exploited Duke’s overplaying man-to-man for multiple backdoor cuts, most of them by Steve Hale, who scored a career-high 28 points.

Two Carolina spurts settled it. In the first half, a 12-0 run featured 10 points in 30 seconds after Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s technical foul. In the second half, a 16-5 run featured three straight layups, two on backdoors by Hale, pushing the lead to 16. Duke never really threatened from there.

Why it ranks here: It was downhill from here as a once-formidable Carolina team finished third, lowest in the league in 20 years, and quickly lost in the ACC and NCAA tournaments.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

North Carolina 84, Kentucky 81. December 10, 1990: After wiping out a 12-point Wildcat lead, Carolina took the lead with a minute left when King Rice caught an outlet pass while seated, yet managed to make a pass that led to a Pete Chilcutt dunk. 

North Carolina 98, Ohio State 89. Nov. 29, 2006: Coming out party for Tar Heel freshmen Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Brandan Wright against a future national runner-up playing without Greg Oden.

North Carolina 82, Kentucky 77. December 14, 2013: Marcus Paige scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and his alley oop to Brice Johnson with 1:18 left basically broke the Smith Center crowd. 

North Carolina 72, Louisville 71. January 10, 2015: Paige, hobbling with foot, ankle and hip injuries, capped a 13-point comeback with an acrobatic scoop off the top of the backboard for the game-winner.

North Carolina 88, Syracuse 79 (OT). February 28, 2022: With Carolina in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament, Caleb Love hit a 25-foot bomb to put the Heels ahead in the final seconds, then two more in overtime to seal it.