UNC Basketball: Keys for Tar Heels in ACC battle against Florida State
By Trevor Marks
UNC Basketball is returning to the Smith Center following a surprise upset over Duke at Cameron Indoor. What do the Tar Heels need to do to maintain momentum and grab a win over Florida State?
The No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels (21-5, 12-2 ACC) received perhaps their biggest victory of the season Wednesday night in an 88-72 upset over the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils in enemy territory. Favored by as many as 9.5 points according to various odd-setters, Coach K and company were expected by many media talking heads and casual fans alike to handedly beat the Tar Heels, with the freshman quartet of Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones seen as too formidable a foe for the Heels to overcome.
But, by the will of the basketball gods, overcome it they did. Instead, a freak occurrence in the game’s opening minute—a busted sneaker and tweaked knee to Duke’s Zion Williamson—would drastically alter the course of the game, leaving Duke without their best offensive and defensive weapon for the remaining 39:24. As such, UNC, led by upperclassmen Luke Maye and Cameron Johnson, would go on to shock the top-ranked program in the country, leading by as many as 22 points deep into the second half before ultimately winning comfortably by 16, the largest margin of victory against Duke since 2012.
Maye (30 points, 15 rebounds) and Johnson (26 points, seven rebounds, four assists), along with meaningful contributions from sophomore big Garrison Brooks (14 points, eight rebounds) and junior guard Seventh Woods (five points, three assists), would provide constant pressure on both sides of the ball, poking holes in Duke’s porous defense and forcing the Blue Devils to funnel all shots through Barrett and Reddish.
Now heading back home to the friendlier grounds of Chapel Hill with a big win under their belt, the Tar Heels are set to face a red-hot No. 16 Florida State squad that hasn’t lost since Jan. 22. Despite entering ACC play roughly with a poor 1-4 record after five games, the Seminoles have strung together eight consecutive wins by an average margin of 13.9 points, including wins against Clemson (twice), Syracuse and Louisville.
Beating the Seminoles, even at home, is no small task. What does UNC need to do in order to halt FSU’s winning streak and add another quality win to their resume?