CHAPEL HILL – Incessantly clapping his hands and pumping his fists, UNC basketball coach Hubert Davis implored the Tar Heels to match his intensity Saturday against NC State.

As the decibel levels rose inside the Smith Center, UNC started to show its defensive dominance in the second half of a 79-70 win against NC State.

"I felt like when things got a little chippy, it ignited us a little bit as well," UNC coach Hubert Davis said. "I was really happy with how the guys responded in the second half."

When asked about the physical nature of the game, which featured a few of those "chippy" moments throughout the afternoon, Davis said he didn't mind seeing that from the Tar Heels.

"We talked about having that competitive fire but also keeping your composure and I felt like we did that," Davis said.

Trailing by double digits against the Wolfpack (17-12, 9-9 ACC) early in the second half, the ninth-ranked Tar Heels (23-6, 15-3) buckled down with a desperation level that put them one step closer to claiming the ACC regular-season championship.

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UNC blitzed the Wolfpack with a 29-8 start to the second half as NC State missed 15 shots in a row. After shooting 58% in the first half, the Wolfpack missed 21 of 27 shots in the final 20 minutes. UNC didn't allow a basket in the final 3:15 and had a 42-25 advantage after halftime.

"All year for the team, it's always defense that fuels the offense," Davis said. ". ... Defensively, we stepped up."

Here are some other observations from a UNC victory that completed a season sweep of NC State.

Harrison Ingram, Elliot Cadeau like playing NC State

Harrison Ingram and Elliot Cadeau, two of the stars in UNC’s first win against NC State, shined bright again in their second time facing the Wolfpack. Connecting on arguably the top play of the afternoon, Cadeau zipped a pitched-ahead pass through several defenders to Ingram for a dunk in the first half. Cadeau finished with 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Ingram had 22 points – his career high with the Tar Heels – and six rebounds.

"Harrison was Harrison," Davis said. ". ... You never have to tell Harrison, 'Let's play hard.' He just instinctively in anything -- practice, shoot around or obviously a game -- brings tremendous energy for us and it fueled us (against NC State."

RJ Davis makes more UNC basketball history

Four minutes into the game, RJ Davis dished out the 400th assist of his UNC career. With that number, Davis is the first Tar Heel to reach 1,800 points, 200 3-pointers, 500 rebounds and 400 assists in a career. Davis didn’t bring his best shooting performance, but he filled up the stat sheet with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists with no turnovers.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Elliot Cadeau, Harrison Ingram help UNC basketball beat NC State