Lucas: FSU Rapid Reactions

By Adam Lucas

1. Tough loss in which Carolina showed too little in the first half but a great deal in the second half. Florida State is one of the toughest, most athletic teams in the country, and they showed it in a 69-66 win.

2. Give Florida State credit for increasing their defensive intensity in the final three minutes. Carolina had a two-point lead with 3:14 to go, but from that point, the Seminoles made it very difficult for the Heels to initiate any offense at all. The Tar Heels missed their final seven shots of the game and also failed to convert two free throws.

3. Carolina miscommunicated on the final play of the game with 1.0 seconds remaining. Trailing by three, it appeared Roy Williams wanted to inbound the ball to midcourt and then call timeout. Instead, they took the timeout immediately after the free throw. It was going to be a very difficult situation no matter what, but the degree of difficulty went up with the longer pass.

4. For the second straight meeting between these two teams, Carolina came out on fire after a lackluster first half. The Tar Heels outscored FSU by a combined +21 in the first 4:30 of the second half in the last two meetings.

5. One common trait in Greensboro: Carolina was better when RJ Davis was on the court. The freshman was outsized in almost every matchup on the court against FSU, but he competed for every single one of his minutes. A big part of the Tar Heels' second half push was when Davis contested an inbounds pass to the mammoth RaiQuan Gray at midcourt. It was a simple pass that didn't have to be contested, but Davis forced a turnover and it led to a Kerwin Walton three-pointer. It's true that Davis didn't score on some drives to the rim in the final minutes, but it's also true that no one else was taking those shots, either.

6. Carolina simply didn't compete at FSU's level in the first half. The Seminoles were fresh off a triple bye and looked like it, as they were the more intense team for every minute of the first 20. Had Carolina played the first half at the same level they did the second half, the outcome would have been different.

7. Tough night for Carolina's post players, as the Heels repeatedly had trouble getting the ball to them in scoring position and Florida State showed its trademark tough interior defense (they lead the league in two-point field goal percentage allowed). Armando Bacot had 12 points and six rebounds, but the trio of Garrison Brooks, Day'Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler went just 3-for-9 from the field. Brooks did lead the team with eight rebounds. FSU outscored Carolina in the paint, 36-24.

8. One area where you can take advantage of Florida State: they are sometimes too careless with the ball. They came into the game third-worst in the ACC in turnover percentage, and they followed that precedent with a generous ten turnovers in the first half. But Carolina couldn't make them pay for it, as they turned those ten miscues into just five points. FSU, meanwhile, was converting seven Carolina turnovers into 12 points. For the game, the Heels got 15 points off 18 FSU turnovers.

9. A reminder that Kerwin Walton is a weapon. The freshman was quiet in the first half but was a big part of Carolina's second half push, knocking in three three-pointers. Walton was more aggressive in the second half, and it helped. Another freshman, Caleb Love, led the team in scoring with 13 points on 4-for-14 shooting.

10. The game is played and officiated by humans, and there are moments in every single game that could go both ways. Florida State could certainly cite multiple examples of calls they felt went the wrong way. But Carolina absolutely felt there were three separate instances that either resulted in Seminole points (out of bounds violations) or took Carolina points away (a missed goaltend). In a tight game, those moments didn't decide the game (Carolina's lack of competitiveness in the first half decided the game). But they mattered.

11. Of course, before you assign blame to someone else, you have to help yourself. The Tar Heels didn't do so at the free throw line, where they went just 14-for-25 (56.0%). Including among those misses were multiple 0-for-2 trips to the line on which the Tar Heels got zero points out of a scoring opportunity.

12. In the end, the Tar Heels simply looked like a team playing their third game in three days, and second in two days against a committed, intense, defensively focused squad. Last night, Carolina was capable of fighting back against Virginia Tech. They didn't have the same spark early against a physically imposing FSU team, and will now wait for their NCAA Tournament seeding on Sunday night. It's hard not to feel like this was an overall positive stay in Greensboro. FSU is one of the best teams in the country when they are interested. But Carolina is also playing its best basketball right now.

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Walker Kessler

Caleb Love

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

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