The number-one ranked Tar Heels struggled, but managed to get by the Spartans for a thrilling victory on college basketball tip-off. U.S. President, Barack Obama, was in attendance, watching the game on the flight deck of the USS Carl Vinson.
Harrison Barnes, who is most likely to be a number one pick hopefully for the NBA Draft, led UNC with 17 points. John Henson, another lottery pick, played solid as well, producing twelve points as the Tar Heels start off the season with a 1-0 record.
As the game ended, Obama congratulated both coaches in Roy Williams and Tom Izzo for both basketball teams' strong effort throughout the game.
"He said, 'Good luck.' I told him, 'Good luck.' He's got some pretty important things coming up in the next year, also," said Williams.
Williams was glad Obama was here and there was nothing in his way for him to come.
"I like a president who loves sports, loves athletics, loves college basketball," Williams said. "Don't take this wrong and I'm not being disrespectful, but he's a basketball junkie."
There's no doubt Obama is a basketball junkie. When you have a President that goes on ESPN to share his college basketball brackett a few months ago or taking bloody noses in pick-up games, you know this guy has some b-ball roots on his system.
"I thanked him. He thanked us. We're all trying to thank somebody. That damn military starts thanking you, and it's killing me because they do so much for us and they're thanking us. They're the most humble group I've ever met," said Izzo. "We played the No. 1 team in the country and in front of the No. 1 team in the world."
It was the first game for the Carrier Classic, and it went off to a great start in it's first year.
"I absolutely loved it," Williams said. "We had some scary moments. We were worried about the weather for the last week, but it worked and I thought it was great."
The USS Carl Vinson, in fact, was the ship that operated the killing of Osama bin Laden. To honor the veterans, North Carolina and Michigan Statte both had cameo uniforms along with "USA" written on the back. It was a solid game. It was probably one of the only games for basketball I've seen outside on TV since the Phoenix Suns did it a few years back.
John Henson enjoyed playing on aircraft carrier.
"It took a while, but at some point you didn't even realize you were outside until the play slowed down," Henson said.
Henson then started joking about some of his missed shots: "It was fun. My excuse was sometimes I felt like the boat moved a little bit when I shot. That's why I missed."
North Carolina led 36-25 at halftime and went out to a 59-38 lead in the second half, solidifying a victory.
For Michigan State, Draymond Green played solid with 13 points and a game-high 18 boards. Branden Dawson added to it with ten points and seven rebounds. Guard, Brandon Wood, had seven points.
Just a great game and I'm looking forward to more college basketball throughout the year.
Basketball is back, and it never stops!
