by Derrick Clyburn

Road wins are very hard to come by in the ACC. This Tar Heels basketball team started off very sluggishly again, and the Seminoles were red hot from the 3 point line, hitting nine  3 pointers in the first half. UNC came out with very little intensity in the first half and allowed FSU to drive and score or kick it out for wide open shots. Carolina gave a valiant effort in the second half. Playing better defense and moving without the ball. The Tar Heels had their opportunities to seal the game but came up short. Joel Berry led all scoring with 28 points and 2 rebounds.

UNC Game Stats

North Carolina

Box Score   FG     3PT    FT    REB  AST STL  BLK  TO   PF  PTS

1. Maye              6-14  2-4     0-2      6       2       1       0       0       1       14
2. Pinson           2-6    0-0     1-1       3       4       2       0       1       5       5
3. Brooks          0-2    0-0     0-0     6       0       0       0       0       3       0
4. Williams       7-15  4-11    0-0     7       3       1       0       2       1       18
5. Berry II         10-23 4-8     4-4     2       1       2       0       2       1       28
6. Huffman      0-1    0-0     0-0      1       0       0       0       0       1       0
7. Manley         2-3    0-0     2-2      5       1       0       0       0       0       6
8. Robinson    0-0   0-0     0-0      0       0       0       0       0       1       0
9. Platek           1-2    0-1     0-0      0       0       0       0       0       1       2
10. Felton          0-3    0-2     0-0      0       1       0       0       0       1       0
11. Johnson     3-8     1-3     0-0      8       6       2       1       2       3       7

TEAM   31-77   11-29   7-9     41      18      8       1       7       18      80

40.3%   37.9%   77.8%

Florida State

Box Score     FG     3PT    FT    REB  AST STL BLK   TO  PF   PTS

1. Cofer               2-11   1-5     0-2     4       0       0       0       0       1       5
2. Obiagu            1-1     0-0     0-0     1       0       0       2       0       1       2
3. Mann               6-10 1-3     4-7     9       5       1       1       3       0       17
4. Walker            6-9   4-6     2-3     3       2       1       0       5       1       18
5. Angola            6-10 3-7     5-5     5       2       2       0       2       2     20
6. Kabengele    1-4    1-3     0-0     5       0       0       2       1       1       3
7. Allen               0-0   0-0     0-0     0       0       0       0       1       0      0
8. M.J. Walker  4-8   1-4     0-1       2       0       0       0       1       1       9
9. Forrest           2-4  0-1     3-4       4       1       0       0       2       1       7
10. Savoy             0-0  0-0     0-0     0       0       0       0       0       1      0

TEAM     28-57  11-29  14-22  37   10     4       5       15      9       81

49.1%   37.9%   63.6%

 UNC Bright Spots

Joel Berry played his best game of the season. He had 28 points, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals. Berry hit big three after big three to keep Carolina in the game.

Luke Maye had  14 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Kenny Williams had 18 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Needs Work

This process must change. Carolina needs to begin the games with higher intensity, and not allow teams to build confidence in the first half. The Tar Heels bigs need to play stronger around the basket on both ends of the floor. They must play with higher intensity and effort.

Final Observations

I knew that this would be a tough road test for Carolina because FSU has great length and athleticism. They had a 27 game win streak at home, so I felt that UNC would have to start fast to take the crowd out of the game. This Tar Heels basketball team must be more aggressive early to dictate the tempo. They have played the counter puncher in the last few games.

Coach Williams needs to give Sterling Manley more playing time. He did well on both on ends of the floor in limited minutes. Roy should have had him in the game with 9.1 seconds left in the game. Manley would have grabbed that rebound that Theo Pinson tried to corral.

This is the ACC. It doesn’t get any easier. North Carolina must bring their”A” game if they want to be in the top tier of the Conference. We must see continued improvement from the freshmen bigs as well.