UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC vs. Florida St. 79-66 Win
UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Stiff-Arms the Florida St. Seminoles and Secure Their First ACC Victory
by Derrick Isaiah Clyburn
The North Carolina basketball team faced off against Florida State in its first ACC game of the season. North Carolina has shown over the course of the season thus far to have one of the best frontcourts in the country and be one of the best teams scoring in the paint, so Florida State came in with a game plan to limit the Tar Heels’ paint touches and attempts around the basket. Early in this game, the Seminoles packed the paint and forced UNC to take perimeter shots. Carolina fell for Florida State’s game plan and settled for too many jump shots, which led to the Heels starting 1-12 from the field. In order to break down the Seminoles’ defense, the Tar Heels would use their ball movement and dribble penetration to make Florida State’s defense rotate and adjust, which would generate better scoring opportunities for UNC.
The offensive adjustments made by the Heels would allow them to go on a 14-5 run to give them a comfortable lead about midway through the first half. Caleb Wilson was a huge part of the Heels’ success, scoring 11 of Carolina’s first 22 points. Florida State came into this game as one of the nation’s leaders in three-point attempts and made sure to let them fly, with 19 of their 28 field goal attempts coming from behind the arc. Nevertheless, the Tar Heels did a good job contesting their three-point attempts and forcing them into tough shots, which led to the Seminoles shooting 39% from the field overall. Carolina took advantage of Florida State’s misses and pushed the pace as much as possible, leading to 11 fast-break points in the first half. However, the Tar Heels only shot 39% from the field in the first half and it allowed the Seminoles to hang around and only be down only six going into halftime.
In the second half, North Carolina came out and missed seven of their first 10 shots due to the lack of ball movement and settling for bad shots. The Tar Heels’ defense would be crucial during this stretch and allowed them to keep a manageable lead until they started to generate better shots offensively. After the first media timeout, the Heels made a constant effort to get the ball inside and use their high-low action with Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson, which led to quality shots. Once the offense got back on track and they got multiple defensive stops in a row, UNC went on a 14-3 run after Florida State missed 10 of 11 shots. Carolina would control this game to the very end after leading for the entirety of the 40 minutes. There were instances where Carolina couldn’t necessarily pull away because of miscues by the Tar Heels, such as allowing offensive rebounds, bad shots, and unforced turnovers. Overall, this game was never in doubt for UNC, with Caleb Wilson and Seth Trimble leading the way with 22 and 20 points, and Kyan Evan and Henri Veesar also finishing in double figures. Carolina closes out the Florida State Seminoles 79-66 and gets their 13th victory of the season
UNC Stats
| 1 | 2 | T | |
| Florida State 7-7 | 34 | 32 | 66 |
| 12 North Carolina 13-1 | 40 | 39 | 79 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Wilson | 22 | 16 | 6 | 9/15 | 0/1 | 4/5 | 1 | 36 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| S. Trimble | 20 | 7 | 2 | 6/13 | 0/2 | 8/11 | 2 | 34 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| K. Evans | 15 | 1 | 0 | 5/15 | 5/12 | 0/0 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| H. Veesaar | 12 | 12 | 3 | 6/7 | 0/0 | 0/2 | 3 | 29 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| L. Bogavac | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/5 | 0/2 | 0/0 | 1 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| J. Powell | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2/6 | 2/6 | 0/0 | 1 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Stevenson | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1/4 | 0/3 | 2/2 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| D. Dixon | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0/3 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| J. Young | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Z. High | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| I. Matlekovic | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| E. Smith | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 79 | 45 | 18 | 29/68 | 7/29 | 14/20 | 14 | – | 5 | 3 | 8 |
| Starters | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| C. Wiggins | 16 | 10 | 0 | 5/14 | 3/9 | 3/4 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| R. McCray V | 11 | 6 | 8 | 5/13 | 1/5 | 0/0 | 2 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| L. Jones | 10 | 5 | 1 | 4/9 | 2/5 | 0/0 | 4 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| M. Somerville | 6 | 4 | 1 | 2/9 | 2/8 | 0/0 | 3 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| A. Steen | 6 | 3 | 0 | 1/2 | 0/0 | 4/7 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Bench | PTS | REB | AST | FG | 3PT | FT | PF | MIN | STL | BLK | TO |
| K. MaGee | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4/10 | 4/9 | 0/0 | 2 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| A. Maluk | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2/4 | 0/1 | 0/1 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| T. Bassong | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0/0 | 0/0 | 1/2 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| C. Miles | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0/5 | 0/3 | 0/0 | 1 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| S. Muhammad | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| A. Swinton | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| J. Crawford | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| M. Garcia-Plata | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 66 | 32 | 13 | 23/66 | 12/40 | 8/14 | 16 | – | 5 | 2 | 9 |
UNC Bright Spots
Caleb Wilson had 22 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists, and two blocks.
Seth Trimble had 20 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals, and 2 assists.
Kyan Evans had 15 points and 1 rebound.
Henri Veesaar had 12 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal.
Needs Work
The Tar Heels need to do much better on the defensive glass. Their effort in going after rebounds and boxing out must be better. They allowed too many second-chance opportunities, which allowed Florida State to hang around and keep the game close.
The Tar Heels also need to make sure they don’t allow teams to take them out of their game and dictate the way they play. Offensively, they are at their best when the ball is moving, the bigs are getting touches, and the guards are getting dribble penetration because it usually leads to great shots. They must play that way no matter what defense the opponent throws at them.
Final Observations
The Tar Heels improve to 13-1 and are 10-0 at home. Carolina is now 65-8 in ACC home openers. Right now, UNC is playing good basketball, and they are off to their best start since the 2009 season. But the Heels haven’t even played their best basketball yet. Luka Bogavac hasn’t found his rhythm yet or a consistent role on the team. Kyan Evans and Jarin Stevenson’s offensive production has been up and down, and the coaching staff is still figuring out the perfect rotation for this team. With all that said, they have only lost one game and are winning in a variety of ways, which bodes well for this team going forward. The team has what it takes to be special, and it will be interesting to see how they continue to gel, improve, develop, mature, and work towards reaching their potential over the next few weeks. Next up is SMU on Saturday, January 3, at 2:15 on the CW.
Awesome to get a tough win over a Florida State team that always plays us tough. That said, shooting has to tighten up. Between Stevenson, Luka, and Dixon, we need to get better complementary offense from those guys. If we’re gonna shorten the rotation like we have, we need better production from those role players. But again, a great win!!