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North Carolina forward Armando Bacot, right, tangles with Florida State guard M.J. Walker during Saturday afternoon’s game.
Times-News
[ACC pool photo], Times-News
There were encouraging moments and pleasantly surprising developments for North Carolina, but not enough sustained good things to solve Florida State.
The Tar Heels’ modest winning streak ran out in an 82-75 loss to the Seminoles in Atlantic Coast Conference basketball Saturday at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla., as Florida State secured its 20th straight league victory at home.
“I think we are getting better, I think we’re doing some things better,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “But I’m about as frustrated right now as you can possibly be, because I just think of the little things we possibly could’ve done better that would’ve helped us. But Florida State is really good.”
North Carolina put four players in double figures with freshman guards RJ Davis (16 points) and Kerwin Walton (14 points) pacing the scoring, connected on a season-high 10 successful 3-pointers as a team, and got a second-half lift from the return of guard Anthony Harris, who played in a game for the first time since suffering a major knee injury Dec. 30, 2019.
The Tar Heels entered the afternoon having won three straight ACC contests and put themselves in position to make it four in a row against a Florida State team expected to be a contender in the conference race this season — in the arena where the Seminoles haven’t been dealt an ACC loss across the last two years on the calendar, since Jan. 12, 2019.
“I feel like each day we’re gaining confidence with each other,” Davis said. “I just feel like in order for us to be great, it’s the little things that matter.”
North Carolina (8-5 overall, 3-3 ACC) mounted runs to rally within two of Florida State’s lead with 8½ minutes remaining Saturday, and later trailed 74-73 after Day’Ron Sharpe’s put-back of Davis’s miss in the final 2½ minutes, but couldn’t get over the hump and move ahead.
RaiQuan Gray’s tough driving bucket — the versatile 6-foot-8 forward dribbled off a screen from 7-1 center Balsa Koprivica in what amounted to a massive pick-and-roll combo — became a three-point play and provided an effective answer for Florida State (7-2, 3-1) on its next possession.
That winning response helped send the Seminoles on their way, while North Carolina went on to miss its last five shots from the field.
“We had some mistakes,” Williams said. “We couldn’t get stops. When we’d do some things and make some good plays, we couldn’t get stops at that time.”
North Carolina’s Andrew Platek, left, looks to drive against the defense of Florida State’s Anthony Polite on Saturday.
Times-News
[ACC pool photo], Times-News
M.J. Walker pumped in 21 points and Gray supplied 19 points, topping Florida State’s five double-digit scorers. The Seminoles all but produced perfection from the foul line, sinking 26-for-27 on free throws. Their lone miss occurred with 29.1 seconds left in the game.
Florida State played without standout Scottie Barnes, the Preseason Freshman of the Year in the ACC, due to an ankle injury. And Walker missed a stretch of the game with his own ankle issue, upon landing awkwardly on the foot of North Carolina forward Armando Bacot early in the second half, after he lofted a lob to Koprivica for a dunk.
The size of Koprivica and fellow 7-footer Tanor Ngom, along with the length of 6-9 Malik Osborne and the strength of the 6-8 Gray, helped Florida State neutralize North Carolina’s considerable rebounding prowess.
The Tar Heels arrived as the league leader in that department, but the Seminoles grabbed one more rebound during the game by a 30-29 margin. Florida State held North Carolina in check in terms of crashing the offensive glass, an area where the Tar Heels have feasted this season behind its frontcourt rotation of Garrison Brooks, Bacot and Sharpe down low. Sharpe and Bacot rank among the ACC’s top three offensive rebounders.
“They’re very big and very athletic,” Brooks said of the Seminoles. “I think they’re probably one of the most athletic teams we’re going to play this year. I think they just did a great job of using that and using their size and strength.”
Brooks said he didn’t expect Harris to play for North Carolina on this day. Likewise, Davis said he did a double take with surprise when Williams inserted Harris at the 13:39 mark of the second half, when Florida State led 54-43.
Harris brought a noticeable boost off the bench in his return from a torn knee ligament suffered more than 12 months prior. He hit both of his shot attempts while contributing five points and three assists in nine minutes of action. He also drew a charging foul on Florida State’s Osborne.
“I didn’t expect ‘Ant’ to play, but he gave us a huge lift,” Brooks said. “Something we needed. We needed somebody new, some new energy in there, and that’s what he did for us. He was great.”
