Late Night With Roy dance-off shows UNC men's basketball's goofy, competitive spirit

When the Blue and White teams tied in the dance competition, Late Night With Roy host Jesse Holley knew how to decide the winner — a dance-off.

Each team picked a player to compete, leaving UNC fans to witness a faceoff between junior guards Theo Pinson and Joel Berry.

“I feel like that was the best part of the night, other than playing basketball,” Pinson said.

For Berry? Not so much.

“I don’t think that was a good contest,” Berry said. “The music wasn’t too good, so I couldn’t — I couldn’t get into my groove.”

Berry had a challenging task in taking on Pinson, who put on a show from the start of his dance. Kennedy Meeks and Justin Jackson joined in, and the trio cut through the huddle of Blue team members — who were dressed as milkmen from their earlier dance routine.

Pinson snatched a milkman hat off a Blue team member’s head and chucked it into the air, and Meeks grabbed another hat and kicked it before tossing it into the audience.

Theo is gonna be hard to beat pic.twitter.com/6QqRyh3oWF

— Blake Richardson (@rblakerich_) October 15, 2016

When Berry followed with his own routine, Meeks lied down on the court and pretended to sleep.

Berry’s response? He started dancing over Meeks.

Well played, @JoelBerryII, well played #LNWR16 pic.twitter.com/gDpPpCsa6q

— Blake Richardson (@rblakerich_) October 15, 2016

The contest embodied what Berry loves about the Tar Heels — the way they weave together intensity and playfulness. That tone echoed throughout the evening.

“This is just a fun team,” Berry said. “We have a lot of fun off the court. But when we get on the court, it’s all about business.”

This year’s Late Night With Roy fostered intrateam competition, with shooting and skills contests along with the scrimmage. Berry and Pinson both liked the change.

“It was a lot more fun for us, because it’s not as much as pressure remembering the dance moves and all that,” Pinson said. “And it was fun going out there and do what people want to see us do — shoot threes, dunk the ball, goof around, dance-off, stuff like that.”

Berry thought the night let UNC fans see the Tar Heels’ personalities.

“They always see us focused and on the court … but they never get a chance to see our personalities and what we really are,” Berry said. “And I think that’s one thing about this team is that we have a lot of guys with different personalities, and we just all come together.”

Berry said those personalities combine for an exciting team environment. And between Jackson’s twerking, Meeks’ lip syncing and Pinson’s dancing, that goofy atmosphere showed Friday night.

But Berry said the jokes end when the team takes the court.

“At the end of the day, when that ball is in play, we know how to switch it to — switch it to being focused and everything,” Berry said. “So it just makes everything fun. When we’re having fun, things go by fast.

“And that’s one thing I love about this team is that we can have fun and compete at the same time.”

@rblakerich_

sports@dailytarheel.com