NOTE: This article originally appeared in the Feb. 16 issue of CAROLINA, the official magazine of UNC Athletics and the Rams Club.
The Carolina-Duke rivalry is tinged with animosity and hostility. Iconic moments are not only bred from the triumphs of each respective team, but are also cultivated from the bloodshed when the two teams are matched up. Eric Montross is forever etched into the Carolina basketball scrapbook, as the image of the gash underneath his eye at the free throw line against Duke in 1992 depicted the rivalry as a battle.
Even in Carolina’s current hype video played before the starting line-ups are announced each home game, the image of Tyler Hansbrough with a gushing, bloody face flashes in remembrance of the time when a Blue Devil broke the National Player of the Year’s nose.