North Carolina-Indiana was the premier game of the 2016 ACC-Big Ten Challenge, a matchup that would have featured two top-five teams had the Hoosiers not lost to Fort Wayne last week. This was a big-time early season litmus test for both programs, and Indiana answered the call with a decisive 76-67 win in front of its home crowd at Assembly Hall.
The game had a charged atmosphere from the opening tip-off, and North Carolina coach Roy Williams took notice. When it was over, Williams said “I’d like to play in front of a crowd like that in the Smith Center every night other than the frickin’ Duke game.”
Here’s the full quote:
Roy’s take on the crowd and the comparison to the Smith Center came in his opening. Here it is … pic.twitter.com/QMK75YCBXg
— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) December 1, 2016
That is some delightful candor from Ol’ Roy and a message to the UNC fanbase to step its game up. The Hoosier crowd was noticeably loud on this night and even had ESPN measuring decibels courtside.
The Indiana students came ready to go:
Tom Crean says there were “thousands” of students sleeping across the street last night, waiting to get in here today. You could tell.
— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) December 1, 2016
If you’re scoring at home: Indiana has now beaten Kansas and UNC, but lost to Fort Wayne. The transitive property says the Mastodons are the best team in America.
