UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Holds Off the Seminoles on the Road 

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team traveled to Tallahassee to face the Seminoles in another must-win game. The Tar Heels started out hot hitting 11 3-pointers in the first half moving the ball to the open man for the better shot. They began to control the game after turning the ball over 7 times in the first segment of the first half.

UNC was able to take charge of the game without Armando Bacot making a significant impact. R.J. Davis, Caleb Love, Leaky Black, and Pete Nance took up the slack by scoring in a variety of ways. Once they got themselves under control they began to attack the basket and kick it out to the open man for three. North Carolina picked it up on the defensive end and was able to build an 18-point lead going into the half.

In the second half, the Tar Heels turned the ball over 3 straight possession to allow Florida St. to get back into the game and build confidence that they could have a shot to make another comeback as they did against Miami on Saturday. But UNC had other plans and began to attack the basket again to score or get fouled. They were able to hold off the late Seminole surge by hitting timely shots and free throws to seal the game. Leaky Black tie his career high with 18 points and an Exclamation Point Dunk to close the deal.

UNC Game Stats

	1	2	T
North Carolina 20-11	43	34	77
Florida State 9-22	25	41	66

North Carolina

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
R. Davis	19	4	4	7/13	3/7	2/2	3	38	2	0	3
L. Black	18	9	3	6/8	3/4	3/4	2	33	0	1	2
C. Love	16	4	4	5/12	3/7	3/4	1	37	1	0	4
P. Nance	15	10	2	3/10	3/6	6/6	3	37	1	1	2
A. Bacot	1	8	0	0/4	0/0	1/2	3	21	0	0	0
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
D. Styles	4	1	0	1/1	1/1	1/2	0	10	0	0	1
P. Johnson	4	1	0	1/4	1/3	1/2	3	11	0	0	0
S. Trimble	0	0	1	0/0	0/0	0/2	1	9	1	0	2
J. Washington	0	2	1	0/1	0/1	0/0	1	4	0	0	0
Total	77	39	15	23/53	14/29	17/24	17	–	5	2	14

Florida State

STARTERS	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
M. Cleveland	12	9	0	4/13	0/1	4/6	4	34	1	1	1
J. Warley	9	4	2	3/6	0/0	3/4	2	32	0	0	0
C. Corhen	5	4	0	2/3	0/1	1/1	3	21	0	0	0
D. Green Jr.	5	2	1	1/11	1/7	2/2	1	36	0	0	2
C. Yates	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	1	0	0	0
BENCH	PTS	REB	AST	FG	3PT	FT	PF	MIN	STL	BLK	TO
C. Mills	19	6	3	8/16	0/2	3/4	1	34	2	0	2
B. Miller	6	3	1	3/4	0/1	0/0	3	13	0	0	1
D. Green	5	2	0	2/3	1/2	0/1	2	11	0	0	0
C. Jackson	3	0	0	1/2	1/1	0/0	2	10	0	0	2
N. McLeod	2	1	0	1/2	0/0	0/3	0	8	0	1	0
Total	66	31	7	25/60	3/15	13/21	18	–	3	2	8

UNC Bright Spots 

RJ Davis had 19 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists. 

Leaky Black had 18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 block. 

Caleb Love had 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists.

Pete Nance had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists. 

Needs Work 

The Tar Heels need to work on keeping up their energy and effort for 40 minutes. Their shot selection and decision-making need to be better. Especially when they have double-digit leads. They tend to take bad shots and have unforced turnovers, which allows teams to stick around. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels improve to 19-11 on the season and 11-8 in ACC play. Their mentality for the rest of the season should be to survive and move on. Win by any means necessary. North Carolina has the talent to beat anyone. So the challenge should not be too big for them. They must play as a team sharing the ball and being aggressive on offense.

Hubert needs to continue to use his bench down the stretch. They will be needed to continue the 3-game win streak and for the rest of the season. Next up is Duke on Saturday at 6:30 pm.