Clemson has ventured into Chapel Hill ranked higher than North Carolina on three occasions among its 59 visits, and each time the Tigers left on the short end of the stick.
They’ve been favored a few other times, too, and in 2002 walked into the Smith Center with perhaps the program’s best chance it’s ever had at ending the streak.
It was at 47 going into UNC’s senior night on Feb. 27. The Tigers were 13-15 overall and 4-11 in the ACC, but the Tar Heels were closing out the worst season in program history and stood at 7-18 and 3-11. Carolina was in dead last place in the ACC at the time.
In addition, UNC had lost 13 of its previous 15 games with the average margin of the defeat 18.5 points. In fact, the Tar Heels lost by single digits just once in that stretch and by 22 or more points six times.
If ever there was a UNC team that would lose at home to Clemson, many figured at the time, it would be the 2001-02 Tar Heels.
But the Heels rose up and took care of business. Perhaps they saved face, keeping the kept the streak alive with a 96-78 victory. Carolina was scorching from the perimeter using a parade of 3-pointers to move a 48-40 halftime lead to 67-44 on a 19-4 run to open the second half.
UNC finished the game 16-for-32 from beyond the arc and advanced to 48-0 at home versus Clemson.
“It's nice not to have ended the streak but I think more importantly for us it was nice for the seniors to go out in a good way and it was nice for us to end our home season,” sophomore guard Adam Boone, who finished with 13 points and eight assists, said after the game. “The streak probably would have meant a lot more if we were to lose.”
Senior Jason Capel led the Heels with 28 points while freshman guard Jackie Manuel was next with 16 points and freshman forward Jawad Williams added 14 points.
How much did the possibility of being the team that finally lost at home to Clemson weigh on the Tar Heels?
"It's a big burden off our shoulders,” Williams said that night. “We've been working hard but kept falling short. It felt good to send the seniors off on a good note. We broke every other record, so we had to keep one intact. It was a team effort. We all came out and played well and it showed."
The other records Williams was referring to were UNC’s place in the ACC standings and that it shattered the school record for most losses in a season eventually finishing the campaign at 8-20 overall and 4-12 in the ACC.
Carolina has actually come much closer to losing at home to Clemson, including since that game.
In 1974 and 1975, when the Tigers were led by future NBA star Tree Rollins, the Tar Heels escaped Carmichael Auditorium with 61-60 and 74-72 wins, respectively. In 1980, Clemson entered ranked No. 12 in the nation with the Heels at No. 13, but UNC won 73-70.
A James Worthy steal and dunk triggered a UNC eruption in 1982, as the Heels overcame a nine-point deficit with 10 minutes remaining to win 77-72. And in 2008, a banged up Carolina club erased an 11-point Clemson lead with three minutes and won 103-93 in double overtime.
As close as those games were, the stress followed by relief of the 2002 team has been unmatched, perhaps until Saturday when the 8-7 Heels host a 7-7 Tigers team that is coming off an 11-point win over N.C. State.
