Lucas: FSU Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. The Walker Kessler game. The freshman hit nine of his ten field goals, scoring a game high 20 points and had a team-high eight rebounds. Carolina defeated a good FSU team, 78-70.

2. What an afternoon in the Smith Center. Carolina looked bad in the first half, but then played a completely different game in the second half and routed the Seminoles in the final 20 minutes, outscoring them 47-29. As a reminder when you're examining the ACC standings, the home/road splits matter. FSU seems to be the best team in the ACC, but they are now 2-4 on the road this year. Leonard Hamilton burned through his timeouts early in the second half and had not left as the 'Noles tried to make a late rally.

3. It will be lost in the performance of the Tar Heel freshmen, but Leaky Black quietly had a very solid game. The junior was the team's leading rebounder and the team's leader in assists.

4. How great was it to have the crowd back in the Smith Center for a game like that? It was just over 3,000 fans, but they made a noticeable difference in the environment. They were rewarded with a terrific second half Tar Heel performance. We'll never know for sure. But it's not certain Carolina wins that game with no fans in attendance.

5. The Tar Heels have had their issues at the free throw line this year, but they made them Saturday when it mattered. Carolina converted 25 of 28 from the charity stripe, nearly 90 percent. They also did a good job executing their inbounds plays to get the ball to Kerwin Walton, the best free throw shooter on the squad. Sometimes it's the tangible and the intangible. The Tar Heels have been required to shoot 300 free throws apiece each of the last two weeks (Walton made 288 this week). But it also evidently helped that the Carolina head coach didn't watch the Heels shoot most of their late free throws. It's not superstition, it's just being careful. Carolina was 14-14 from the line in the second half.

6. Too many errors in that first half against a team that's too good to hand that many opportunities. Carolina turned it over 14 times in the first 20 minutes, more than in ten entire games this year. That led directly to 19 Florida State points. Seven different Tar Heels had a turnover in the first half. The Heels cut their total turnovers in half in the second half, committing just seven.

7. That first half was one of the most unique halves this season. The Tar Heels ended the period essentially playing nothing but freshmen, and non-freshmen attempted just two field goals (Leaky Black was 0-2--but did hit four of his six free throws) the entire first half. That means the Carolina freshmen shot 7-for-26 against an athletic, deep, active Seminole defense. That's not entirely unexpected against that kind of squad--you just expected it to be supplemented with other contributions.

8. The swarming Seminole defense made it very difficult for Carolina to get its normal helping of interior scoring chances. FSU had a 22-8 first half edge on points in the paint, and the duo of Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks attempted a combined zero field goals in 18 first half minutes. The Tar Heels had just two assists in the first half, as it felt like every pass was contested and every passing lane had a hand in it. That frequently led to Carolina settling for three-pointers, but they didn't hit enough of them (2-for-14). That changed completely in the second half, as Carolina had a 22-12 edge in that category.

9. Roy Williams sat Bacot for the start of the second half in favor of Walker Kessler, and the freshman big man rewarded him by immediately contributing to a pair of FSU turnovers and slamming home a dunk. Kessler was the key factor in Carolina's run that saw the Tar Heels take the lead less than five minutes into the half. The big man now has 59 points in his last five games as he continues to emerge.

10. RJ Davis committed a game management mistake when Carolina got the ball with 50 seconds left in the first half. With Roy Williams urging the Tar Heels to get two-for-one, Davis instead held the ball long enough for the Seminoles to essentially get the last shot of the half with an Anthony Polite drive and basket. Those are the types of game awareness plays that will come more easily as Davis gets more experience and the game slows down.

11. Caleb Love didn't have a very clean game, committing six turnovers and struggling with his shot. But you can't fault his effort. He made a key play late in the second half when he lost his dribble and committed a turnover, but then chased down Scottie Barnes, who was attempting to showboat on his dunk. Love swatted it away, and Carolina turned it into a Bacot dunk on the other end.

12. Huge win for Carolina's NCAA Tournament credentials. That's a Q1 win by the NCAA's NET ratings, which the Tar Heels desperately needed.

13. Roy Williams is now the fastest coach to 900 wins in college basketball history. He has defeated 16 Hall of Famers during his storied career. The shirts the team wore to celebrate are available at Chapel Hill Sportswear, with all proceeds going to a charity of Williams' choice.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Walker Kessler

Caleb Love

Kerwin Walton

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