The final score may have been 89-80, but that doesn’t tell how much of a scare N.C. State gave Carolina.

Carolina kept coming with its wave of players. To State’s tired team, it must have seemed like a small army.

If that 8-2 Carolina run to close out the first half wasn’t the knockout punch, then the haymaker had to be that 14-6 burst to start the second half, which opened up a 16-point lead. It looked like State had finally hit the wall of fatigue. They were running in a pit of tar. The will was there, but not the body.

But this N.C. State team was not about to pack it in, they had come too far. Playing their fourth game in four days, the legs may have been tired but not the heart, not the spirit. The fight was still there. The Wolfpack with Engin Atsur not nearly at full strength with the re-injured hamstring dug deep once more, how I’m not sure but they became the angry pursuer. They had the Heels literally on their heels cutting those 16 points down to just one. This time, it was Carolina that could have folded. They had before when a team had stood up to them, but not today. It’s the sign of a team that finally may be maturing.

Early in the second half, Roy Williams was mad at Reyshawn Terry, didn’t like the way he was playing. He yanked the senior from the game and made him sit and watch. Williams let Terry stew a while and then he came back into the game and it was the 6-7 Winston-Salem native who came up big down the stretch.

“Coach said he’d like to see me play,” said Terry, who grew up watching this tournament. “He never gave up on me, gave me another chance like he always does.”

With the Pack pawing oh so close, Terry reeled off eight straight clutch UNC points. A jumper, a lay-up for two and the foul and then with Carolina tenuously holding on by three, Terry drained the triple with eight of his 13 points coming during this stretch. It was Terry often in Roy Williams’ doghouse who kept the Wolves at bay.

Plus, Carolina hit their free throws, 23-24 from the line, nine out of 10 in the final 1:14. Tyler Hansbrough, mask and all, was 11 of 11 on free throws. They needed them all because State was not about to let them have it. They made Carolina earn this championship and earn it the Tar Heels did.

UNC won the ACC championship, their first since 1998 against a 10th-seeded State team that defied all odds and logic. Four games in four days, they were dogged tired, but they were right there until the final seconds.

“I told our guys you can be hurt but not disappointed,” said first-year coach Sidney Lowe.

And he’s right, the Wolfpack effort can not be faulted, nobody can do that. State got another great effort from the freshman Brandon Costner who scored 28 points. Courtney Fells who sparked the second half comeback had 18.

But it’s Carolina’s balance that makes them the league champion for a record tying 16th time. Five in double figures, led by 16 each for tournament MVP Brandan Wright and Wayne Ellington, a couple of freshman who are now veterans. In all, nine players scored for Carolina.

The Pack ran out of gas but not heart. Carolina had more left in the tank, plus they, too, had every bit the heart of their gutsy opponent.

That’s why Carolina reigns as the champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference.