Breaking News:See what coach David did after astonishing performance from his team
faced ACC regular-season champions North Carolina Thursday afternoon in the ACC tournament quarterfinals. The Seminoles had played Hubert Davis’ team close in the first two meetings this season but dropped both matchups. The third meeting did not look like the games earlier this year. North Carolina smashed, bullied, and overpowered Florida State en route to a blowout loss. The Seminoles finished the first half with just six rebounds, and UNC correlated as many offensive rebounds as the Seminoles had in total on the day. North Carolina finished with 38 points in the paint and 15 second-chance points as Hubert Davis removed his starters. Offensively, FSU could not get anything going after the first half’s midway point. Watkins and Green Jr. combined for 5-21 shooting and could not handle the length and physicality of the Tar Heels inside. It will be a long off-season in Tallahassee after a terrible performance to end the year
Baba Miller scored FSU’s first points yesterday, and he put the ‘Noles on the board first with a slick post-up and dunk. The Seminoles held UNC scoreless for the first two minutes of the game before RJ Davis went hard to the hole to tie the game at two. Florida State ran creative actions early on in the game on offense, but they struggled against UNC’s length and size inside as they went 2:38 without a point. Leonard Hamilton picked up an early timeout as a microphone on the backboard broke, leading to a technical delay at the 16:50 mark. After play resumed, Warley found Miller for their second connection as Baba splashed the first FSU three of the day.
The game stayed all square at five for two minutes as Florida State made life difficult on the Tar Heels. They forced three early turnovers as they swarmed Bacot or Ingram whenever the ball went inside. Davis found Bacot running in transition after a Green missed three, but Cohren answered with a 10-foot floater to bring the score level. Jalen Warley hit two straight lay-ins to follow up his impressive performance in the paint yesterday, as both teams traded twos. At the under-12, both teams were tied at 13. Early on in the contest, Leonard Hamilton tweaked his coaching style. He did not make a substitution until after the T.V. timeout and did not switch every screen with Davis handling the ball. This led to four early UNC turnovers and eight points in the painted area.
After the break, Coach Ham made a line change, bringing in Spears, Gainey, and Bol Bowen. Spears missed his first shot off a baseline screen, but Bol Bowen knocked down a three after a strong Watkins drive to give the ‘Noles a slight one-point advantage. Green Jr. went 0-3 to start the day, and after hitting the back-iron on a long two, Warley came off the bench quickly to sub in for the senior guard. UNC went after the freshman Bowen on the defensive end and opened a four-point lead. Needing a bucket to keep the game within reach, Jamir Watkins answered the call. He received the ball at the top of the key and used his strength to power home a lay-up plus the foul as the Seminoles found themselves down one at the under-8.
After the timeout, the Seminoles continued to get smashed inside. Bacot powered home his third field goal and second dunk of the game. Spears turned the ball over, which led to an instant two points in transition. The Georgetown transfer made amends as he knocked down his first field goal of the game, but two possessions later, Harrison Ingram easily backed him down in the post and went 2-2 from the foul line. Sixteen of UNC’s 28 points came from inside the paint as they used their size advantage inside. The Tar Heels started enforcing their