Offense Leads The Way In 96-85 Win At Florida State

Monday, February 24

Tallahassee, Fla.

7 PM

North Carolina

18-11,11-6ACC

Florida State

16-12,7-10ACC

North Carolina

Florida St.

Drake Powell

Photo by: Maggie Hobson

February 24, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (,pdf)Lucas: The Vision Lucas: Rapid Reactions Postgame Notes Media Central

By: Matt Bowers

TALLAHASSEE, FLA.—Six Tar Heels scored in double figures and North Carolina played one of its best offensive games of the season in a 96-85 win at Florida State on Monday night in the Tucker Center.

Carolina shot 55.2 percent from the floor and hit 10 three-pointers in its fourth consecutive win.

UNC out-rebounded Florida State, 35-21, despite the Seminoles being the nation's second-tallest team in average height. The Tar Heels posted a 13-4 edge in offensive rebounds, 24-6 in second-chance points and 42-24 in points in the paint. The 24 second-chance points were their highest output since the 2002 NCAA championship game against Kansas.

RJ Davis led Carolina with 20 points, hitting 5 of 9 shots, 3 of 5 three-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws with five assists. An aggressive Seth Trimble hit 6 of 10 shots and scored 17 points, his best output in eight games.

Jae'Lyn Withers (11 points and five rebounds), Elliot Cadeau (10 points and seven assists), Ven-Allen Lubin (10 points and seven boards) and Jalen Washington (10 points on a perfect, 3 of 3 shooting day) also reached double figures for UNC.

Florida State's Jamir Watkins led all scorers with 26 points. Jerry Deng had 16 for the Seminoles, hitting 4 of 6 three-pointers.

Carolina matched its season-best winning streak with its fourth consecutive win. The Tar Heels have won five of their last six games and improved to 18-11 overall, 11-6 in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2024-25. FSU lost for the third time in four games and dropped to 16-12, 7-10.

The Tar Heels improved to 29-2 under head coach Hubert Davis when scoring at least 90 points. UNC is 6-1 when hitting at least 10 3FGs this season and has out-rebounded it opponents by 47 in the last three games. Carolina's 18 assists tied its ACC season high (it had 18 assists in the loss to Wake Forest).

How It Happened
First Half
• For the fourth game in a row, Carolina started its bigger lineup of Cadeau, Davis, Drake Powell, Lubin and Withers.
• Carolina hit 7 of its first 10 shots, but FSU started 6 for 11. The game was tied, 19-all at the second media timeout.
• The Seminoles hit 10 of 11 shots during an early stretch but only led, 32-30, as Carolina also started shooting hot.
• Carolina used a zone defense for stretches of the first half to counteract FSU's height advantage (the Seminoles are the second-tallest team in the NCAA).
• UNC led, 49-43, at halftime. Carolina has scored at least 45 points in the first half in each of the last three game after only doing so twice all season previously.
• UNC out-rebounded FSU, 17-6 (including 8-0 on the offensive glass) and had a 16-0 edge in second-chance points in the first half.
• First-half bench points were 23-9 in Carolina's favor, and points in the paint were 22-12 for UNC.
• Nine Tar Heels scored in the first half, and seven of them had at least two first-half field goals.
• Carolina shot 54.8 percent as a team in the first half, marking the fifth time in the last six halves it's shot at least 50 percent. UNC has shot at least 50 percent in at least one half of eight of the last nine games.

Second Half
• UNC started the second half with a 12-4 run to build its biggest lead at 61-47 with 16:58 remaining.
• The Tar Heels hit 7 of their first 10 shots after halftime.
• Late in the second half, Davis became the third-leading scorer in ACC history. After Monday's game, Davis has 2,592 career points.

Up Next
Carolina will host Miami on Saturday March 1 at noon.