UNC 81, Florida State 80
Florida State is more athletic. Florida State is faster. Florida State shoots the ball better (second in the ACC in FG%). Someway, somehow our scrappy young Tar Heels overcame these facts and a two game losing streak to beat FSU on the road 81-80. During the first half, things didn't look very good for us. We had 12 turnovers and were out-rebounded 11-16 in the first half alone. We didn't come out of the gates playing as poorly as in recent game and even had an early lead (9-8) after 3.5 minutes. But FSU went on a 12-0 run and made 10 field goals in a row to blow it open 11-22.
Reyshawn Terry helped keep us in it early with some outstanding play. During one stretch he scored a 3 pointer, and then had a steal for a layup. The story of the first half however was Isaiah Swann and our turnovers. Swann was on fire and scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half. It is hard to counterbalance that kind of scoring when you make as many silly turnovers as we did. There were at least 3 pass and catch turnovers in the first 10 minutes. We didn't look good at all. The team wasn't very sharp.
Two players that helped keep the game from turning into a blowout were Wes Miller and Byron Sanders. Yes, Wes and Byron. Wes started the game in place of Marcus Ginyard. Coach Williams later said he did it to try and inject more offensive threats and ease some of the pressure on Hansbrough. Wes didn't disappoint. On the game he made 6-10 3 pointers for a career high 18 points.
I don't know what has gotten into Byron Sanders of late, but he is playing much better. During one stretch when Hansbrough was sitting on the bench, Sanders scored on two straight baskets. He is playing good D and scoring well around the basket.
The refs weren't helping our cause at all. They made a bunch of bad calls during the game. Hansbrough got called on a couple of cheap fouls and had to sit with 3 fouls with 3 minutes to go in the first half. We were down 13 points, but Danny Green scored 5 points in the final 2 minutes to get us back to 42-50 at the half.
It is clear that UNC is a second half team this year. Or at least a beginning of the second half team. I don't know what Coach Williams says to the boys in the locker room, but we always seem to play our best ball for the first 5 minutes after the half. Hansbrough scored on 2 straight old fashioned 3 point plays in a row to cut the lead to 2.
FSU maintained a slight lead, but then we scored 5 straight three pointers (3 from Wes Miller and 2 from Danny Green) to take the lead, 61-59, with 12:47 to go. We were a whopping 10 of 14 from the 3 point line at this point.
It was tied at 76 all with 2 minutes to go. It went back and forth. At one point, Wes Miller threw the ball away but came back on the next possession to score a huge 3 pointer. We played some great defense to close out the game and on the back of two big free throws from Reyshawn Terry, won 81-80.
Other key stats:
+ 3 pointers: 13-21/62% (UNC), 7-19/37% (FSU)
- UNC free throws: 8-13 (62%)
- Turnovers: 23 (UNC), 14 (FSU)
