Texas Southern had the Ocean of Soul, its loud and spirited band, which filled this place with enough rhythm to make spectators shimmy in their seats, and the Tigers had oversized heart, too, a lot of it personified by their undersized 5-foot-7, 150-pound freshman point guard.
North Carolina, well – North Carolina had everything else. The Tar Heels' opening game of the NCAA tournament, a mismatched affair between one of the richest schools in college athletics and one that lacks the resources power-conference schools take for granted, wasn't supposed to be close.
And it wasn't. UNC's 101-61 victory was decided by halftime, if not long before.