North Carolina’s Elliot Cadeau (2) and Harrison Ingram (55) react after a Cadeau basket to give the Tar Heels’ a 58-56 lead, after overcoming a fourteen point Florida State lead, in the second half on Saturday, December 2, 2023 at the Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C.
rwillett@newsobserver.com
CHAPEL HILL
No. 17 North Carolina (7-1, 1-0 ACC) defeated Florida State (4-3, 0-1 ACC) in the teams’ ACC opener Saturday, the Tar Heels coming back from a slow start, and a 14-point, second-half deficit, to post a 78-70 win.
The Heels struggled before the break, and early in the second half, but stormed back with a 22-0 run in fewer than five minutes to start league play with a victory.
UNC, which now leads the series, 54-15, was picked No. 3 in the conference preseason poll, while the Seminoles were picked No. 11.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Early offensive woes for UNC
Tennessee Vols coach Rick Barnes said on Wednesday he was “baffled” by his team and the Tar Heels’ ability to completely control the first half. That UNC squad didn’t show up until midway through the second half Saturday, stagnancy taking its place early.
The Heels weren’t as aggressive off the offensive glass (12.4 oreb/game) and the team lacked the same consistent ball movement (14.2 apg) as it did in previous contests.
RJ Davis’ missed 3 at 9:40 of the first half was a stark summary of the team’s offensive rebounding. He had an opportunity to grab an open board for another possession, but he barely moved. Instead, Florida State’s Baba Miller grabbed the uncontested ball and turned that into a fastbreak layup.
Add in seven first-half turnovers and six assists, and it was a tough go early for the Heels.
FSU’s length certainly wreaked havoc on UNC, but Carolina’s effort in the first 30 minutes looked like the opposite of an NCAA Tournament squad.
Florida State foul trouble and turnovers
FSU gave the Tar Heels a lot of help down the stretch with the number of personal fouls and second-half turnovers.
The Seminoles committed 12 turnovers, seven coming after the break, and Carolina capitalized. It scored 18 points off those miscues.
Florida State’s fouling also gave North Carolina plenty of free points to bolster its offense. The Heels scored 25 points from the line, including 20 in the second, helping their late-game run.
3-point shooting problems
UNC had issues on both ends of the floor with the 3 ball, unable to find the hole on the offensive end and unable to stop the Seminoles on the other.
Offensively, the Tar Heels came into the game hitting 3-pointers at a clip of 38%. It’s not the best percentage, but most teams are happy with that. It finished just 4-of-21 against Florida State.
Defensively, UNC held most opponents to 31%. The Seminoles found about half of its points from the arc, making 12-of-28 (42.9%).
Carolina has to step up its 3-point defense going forward and must be consistent from there, as well, especially when it plays in a league in which teams have found early success from outside.
This story was originally published December 2, 2023, 4:18 PM.
