UNC made nothing easy for N.C. State forward C.J. Leslie on Saturday. With Leslie on the court, UNC outscored the Wolfpack by 27 points. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Apologies for the late “look back,” folks, but I did have some thoughts we had yet to discuss here about North Carolina’s 76-65 victory against N.C. State on Saturday.

So without further delay …

How will North Carolina sophomore forward James Michael McAdoo fare inside against N.C. State senior Richard Howell? ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — And welcome to game day, folks. North Carolina and N.C. State will tip off at the Smith Center at 4 p.m.

A preview, including a look at who has the edge:

Marcus Paige says he learned from playing against N.C. State's Lorenzo Brown earlier this season. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Marcus Paige hasn’t re-watched all of North Carolina’s 91-83 defeat against N.C. State. But he watched enough of it to try to learn something from a humbling performance.

“It wasn’t a terrible game for me, personally,” Paige, the Tar Heels’ freshman point guard, said of his play against the Wolfpack when the teams first met on Jan. 26. “But obviously it wasn’t a good game at all. So obviously there’s a lot of room to go up.”

N.C. State dominated North Carolina during the first half on Saturday night. ETHAN HYMAN

CHAPEL HILL — Back in Chapel Hill after a long night in Raleigh. Though it was probably longer for North Carolina coach Roy Williams, who didn’t much care about the Tar Heels’ second-half rally.

“We stunk,” he said after UNC’s 91-83 loss at N.C. State. Here’s a look at our coverage from last night.

First, the main story of the game from our N.C. State beat writer, Joe Giglio.

A column from Caulton Tudor about the one-sided matchup at point guard.

A column from Luke DeCock about how N.C. State thrives in the spotlight.

A story from me about UNC's many shortcomings.

A story from Laura Keeley about N.C. State beating UNC at its own game, in transition.

A story from Cory Smith about how N.C. State "isn't playing for second or third" this season.

And without further delay, the look back:

Can Roy Williams and North Carolina make it 14 in a row against N.C. State? Stay tuned. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Welcome to game day, folks: North Carolina at N.C. State.

Wanted to provide an all-in-one-place look at our coverage today. So here goes:

Thanks to one N.C. State fan, Dexter Strickland for a while has known exactly how many days remained before North Carolina's game against N.C. State. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — After Dexter Strickland said some things about N.C. State before the season – you know, about how the Tar Heels beat the Wolfpack “every single year” (and that has, in fact, been true for a while) – he told me during an interview that he’d been hearing just about every day from one N.C. State fan who sends Strickland messages on Twitter, counting down the days to Saturday, when the Wolfpack and Tar Heels play at PNC Arena.

I spoke with Strickland the other night after UNC’s victory against Georgia Tech, and he said that same fan had continued to send him tweet after tweet (most of them, it turns out, taking shots at Strickland’s jumpshot). That N.C. State fan is Ryan Forcina, and the majority of his tweets, going back to October, have been directed at Strickland.

Forcina deserves some credit for his relentlessness. It can’t be easy to talk smack day after day after day. He even managed to wish Strickland a happy Thanksgiving, a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, all the while making fun of Strickland’s jump shot or, in the case of one tweet, writing simply, “You’re a scrub, bro.” I've reached out to Forcina but haven't heard back.

Of course, Strickland deserves some credit, too, for being a good sport. He told me he hasn’t even blocked Forcina.

Anyway, here’s what Strickland has been hearing from this guy for the past two months. This list doesn’t include every tweet, but most of them:

North Carolina will have a different look on the road when it travels to N.C. State this weekend. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina will wear a new road uniform on Saturday when it plays at N.C. State.

The Tar Heels, who, of course, have long worn Nike gear, will wear what Nike describes as the “Nike Hyper Elite Road Jersey” and the “Nike Hyper Elite Short.” I don’t really know what “hyper elite” means, but Nike says the uniform offers “lightweight performance through sustainable materials.”

Dexter Strickland has heard from N.C. State fans following his public comments about the Wolfpack. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — You probably remember Dexter Strickland’s comments about N.C. State a while back. Strickland, the North Carolina senior guard, told CBSSports.com’s Jeff Goodman that the Wolfpack represented “the least” of the Tar Heels worries, and he noted that UNC routinely defeats N.C. State.

I recently had a chance to ask Strickland about the reaction he received from those comments.

“They’ve been blowing up my Twitter, saying crazy things,” Strickland said. “There’s this one guy, I don’t even know his name. He tweets me every day, and he counts down to the days. It’s a State fan. He says, ’95 days until we destroy UNC.’ And then the next day, ’94 days …’” 

North Carolina guard Dexter Strickland isn't buying the hype surrounding N.C. State. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — Good stuff – no, great stuff – here from Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com. Goodman recently visited Chapel Hill and spent some time with Dexter Strickland, the North Carolina senior guard.

 The pair talked about Strickland’s injury last season, about how things might have been different had he remained healthy. And, oh yes, the topic of N.C. State came up. The Wolfpack, after all, were picked to win the ACC for the first time since coming off their national championship season in 1974.

UNC will play twice at GameDay sites this season. PHOTO: Robert Willett

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina during the upcoming basketball season will appear twice on ESPN’s College GameDay, the school announced earlier today.