RALEIGH, NC – NC State fans have never needed an excuse to get fired up for a game against North Carolina.

But they had plenty on Sunday when their basketball team took on the Tar Heels in a rematch of a contentious battle in Chapel Hill last month.

It’s not even that they were out for blood as retribution for an incident that happened in the earlier game, one that resulted in Wolfpack star Terquavion Smith being carted out of Smith Center on a stretcher. 

Or that they’re still upset over the officials awarding UNC 39 free throws, compared to only 12 for State.

It’s because Sunday’s game at PNC Arena represented one of those rare occasions in which State and its long-suffering fan base finally got the chance to show the hated blue-bloods how the other half lives.

Instead of having their own NCAA Tournament hopes crushed by the boys in blue, as has happened so often in this usually 1-sided basketball rivalry, this time it was the Wolfpack that delivered what could turn out to be the decisive blow to the Tar Heels’ chances.

The nail became the hammer.

And it was no fluke.

State might only have won 5 of the previous 40 meetings since 2003, but it left no question about which was the better team with only 2 weeks remaining in the regular season.

By putting the hammer down over the final 6 1/2 minutes to pull away for a 77-69 victory, the Wolfpack didn’t just release a lot of pent-up frustration against their rival. They also nudged the team that started the season ranked No. 1 in the nation just a little closer to finishing the year in the NIT.

In doing so, the Pack recorded their 21st victory, a significant number considering that represents a complete reversal from last season’s 21-loss team.

“Those last couple of minutes,” said Wolfpack star Terquavion Smith, “those were probably the best feelings I’ve had in a long time, just because of what happened last year.”

Last year is understandably a distant memory for coach Kevin Keatts, who jokingly thanked a reporter for reminding him when asked about it after the game.

“I don’t take anything for granted,” he said. “We’ve had a great turnaround. I wanted to make last year a 1-off. We didn’t want it to be one of those situations that happened every year because we’re better than that.”

Keatts orchestrated the turnaround and got himself off the hot seat by using the transfer portal as effectively as anyone in the ACC. That’s saying something, as Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim will tell you, considering the contributions Miami, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest have all gotten from their veteran newcomers.

Jarkel Joiner and DJ Burns may not have been considered impact transfers when they announced their decisions to come to State. But they’ve proven to be difference-makers throughout their 1st season with the Wolfpack.

Never more so than Sunday.

Joiner, the former Ole Miss point guard, and super-sized big man Burns, last year’s Big South Conference Player of the Year at Winthrop, combined to score 34 of their team’s 45 points in the 2nd half to put away the Tar Heels.

The duo, along with former LaSalle forward Jack Clark, has blended seamlessly with a returning core led by Smith, who returned for his sophomore season despite being projected as a 1st-round draft pick, to fashion one of the feel-good stories in college basketball.

“This has been a really, really good year for us because I have 100% buy-in,” Keatts said. “I wanted to go out and find some guys to put around Terquavion Smith with the vision of this possibly happening.”

It’s a vision that’s starting to attract notice.

And not only from the national poll voters, who had State at No. 23 last week. As Sunday’s raucous sellout crowd can attest, the Wolfpack are well on their way toward winning back a fan base that has grown apathetic at best over the past few years.

Including earlier this season.

“I don’t blame folks for kind of waiting to see,” Keatts said. “You’ve never heard me say one thing about our attendance. I did know that if we won, they would come to games. Our fans were tremendous (today). The atmosphere was great. That was the first time this current group of guys got to see what Wolfpack Nation looks like.”

Joiner, who finished with 29 points, was duly impressed.

“This is as much fun as I’ve had in my college career,” he said.

At 21-7 overall (11-6 ACC), the fun might only be getting started. An indication of that came in the immediate aftermath of the win. Instead of storming the court, as is usually the custom after a rare win against the Tar Heels, State’s student section contained its celebration to the seating area.

It was a clear signal that with the momentum building and the postseason rapidly approaching, the Wolfpack still figures to have plenty of hammering left to do.