UNC Basketball Moments After – UNC VS Florida St. 96-85 Win

UNC Tar Heels Basketball Team Battles Against the Tough and Tall Florida St. Seminoles and Pulls Out Another Road Win

by Derrick Clyburn

The North Carolina basketball team faced off against the Florida St. Seminoles on Monday night. This was a tough road game that they could not overlook, coming in on a three-game winning streak. The Seminoles always have a plethora of 7 footers to throw at their opponents. So, the Tar Heels had to come in and play a disciplined turnover-free game.

In the first half, North Carolina started the game with great energy and effort attacking the basket. Both teams shot the ball well and had great moves around the basket. The Heels had problems defending the length of the Seminoles and had to go to the 2-3 zone. The zone slowed down Florida St. a little bit and allowed UNC to go on a 12-6 run to get some breathing room. The Tar Heels moved the ball to the open man and eight players got into the scoring column. UNC would take a 6-point lead into intermission.

In the second half, the Tar Heels would ramp up their defense and continue to hit open shots and they created a 15-point lead on several occasions. RJ Davis played a very efficient game and stayed under control by either dishing to an open shooter or creating offense for himself. They played team basketball and dismantled the tall athletic Seminoles. 6 players got into double-figures for the Heels led by RJ Davis with 20 points and 5 assists. North Carolina would outrebound Florida St. 35-21 and shot 55% from the field for the game.

UNC Stats

Final

	1	2	T
UNC	49	47	96
FSU	43	42	85

UNC Bright Spots  

RJ Davis had 20 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block. 

Seth Trimble had 17 points and 2 rebounds. 

Jaelyn Withers had 11 points 5 rebounds, and 1 assist. 

Ven Allen-Lubin had 10 points and 7 rebounds 

Jalen Washington had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist. 

Elliot Cadeau had 10 points, 2 rebounds, 7 assists, and 1 steal. 

Needs Work  

The Tar Heels must address the stretches of games where they have several minutes without scoring. North Carolina needs to focus on making the easy play and moving the ball to the open man on these possessions instead of settling for contested shots and forcing bad passes.  

The Tar Heels must value every possession on both sides of the floor. Every play and possession matters and should be just as important as the last. They cannot afford to get lazy and not give their all on either end of the floor, especially when they jump out to big leads. These are the habits that they can build to help them as they get ready to make a run in March. 

Final Observations 

The Tar Heels improve to 18-11 on the season, 11-6 in ACC play. North Carolina is now on a 4 game winning streak and getting better on more confident every game. The players seem to know their roles and are playing for each other. It looks like they are having fun and are building more chemistry. Hubert Davis has this team playing with more belief that they can win games. He has now implemented the zone defense to go along with trapping and pressing. He is showing that he can adjust better to his opponent’s strengths.

The Tar Heels have a chance to get back into the NCAA picture with 3 regular season games remaining. If they continue to play at the level of the last four games they have a chance against any opponent they will face. Next up is Miami on Saturday at 12 Noon on ESPN.