Have we found North Carolina’s kryptonite?
No. 17 Florida State used a sharp-shooting performance from three-point range and 18 points from all-conference guard Michael Snaer to beat the No. 4 Tar Heels, 85-82, and win the ACC tournament title.
It was a much closer game than the 33-point beatdown that the Seminoles gave North Carolina on January 14th, but Florida State was helped to victory on Sunday afternoon by many of the same things that got them a win earlier in the year.
The problem for UNC (and the biggest point of emphasis for Florida State) was openings on the perimeter that freed up Seminole shooters for uncontested threes.
Florida State hit 11-of-22 from beyond the arc on Sunday afternoon, while their defense held North Carolina to just 5-of-20.
Whether or not the problem has to do with the absence of guard Dexter Strickland, who was lost earlier in the year to a knee injury, the Tar Heels will need to get defenders out to the perimeter in the NCAA tournament, especially if they run into a pesky team that finds its stroke from long distance.
The other deciding factor is size.
North Carolina is one of the longest, tallest teams in the country, which has made them a matchup nightmare for most opponents. With Florida State, though, that advantage disappears.
With John Henson sitting on the sidelines with a wrist injury, the interior presence opposite Tyler Zeller was absent. North Carolina blocked just one shot and Henson’s replacement, James Michael McAdoo, was 2-of-10 from the field for four points.
Credit is also due to Florida State’s Luke Loucks, who went punch-for-punch with North Carolina’s Kendall Marshall, one of the best point guards in the country. Loucks finished with 10 points and 13 assists.
North Carolina should be a No. 1 seed when the bracket is revealed. Florida State should be a No.4 seed, according to NBC’s latest projections.
Daniel Martin is a writer and editor at JohnnyJungle.com, covering St. John’s. You can find him on Twitter:@DanielJMartin_
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- rob0527 - Mar 11, 2012 at 4:05 PM
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Florida state could go farther than people think in the tournament. To beat Duke and UNC on back to back days says something about how good this team is.
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- steadward - Mar 11, 2012 at 5:31 PM
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You’re only an undergrad J-school major at St. John’s so I’ll be nice. UNC was within one shot of winning a game without ACC Defensive Player of Year and Team’s leading rebounder and shot blocker. One doesn’t expect to have someone else to come off bench and replace him. Without him, UNC outrebounded FSU by 11, including 11 more offensive boards. With Henson in game, the FSU bigs would not have had nearly the success they had with stick backs. A shooting guard (Bullock) who hits 39 percent of 3 pt shots missed all 5 attempts and shot 1-9 from floor. Sure, FSU had some open looks on perimeter but they also hit some well contested, tough shots. Would not read too much into this one. UNC battled back from 16 down and should be proud of effort.
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- jmb795 - Mar 11, 2012 at 7:02 PM
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Steadward..
How come FSU beat Carolina by 33 WITH Henson?
Excuses are like belly buttons.
Carolina has more top 25 players on the roster than the whole conference combined. No excuses for the Heels today, please.
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- steadward - Mar 11, 2012 at 7:51 PM
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Had FSU played without Snaer today and lost, I’m sure you would maintain the same view on not offering “excuses”. Implying that a James McAdoo is equal to John Henson simply because he was a McDonalds AA last year is comical. Common sense tells you that losing an elite player like Snaer or Henson this late in a season can affect the outcome of a game.As for the loss at FSU, well, it certainly helped that you had a player who averaged 6 pts per game On the season make 10 of 12 FGs and 8 of 10 threes for a career high 32 pts. He only had 3 games after that where scored more than 10 pts. Blind hogs do root up acorns now and then.
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- McCumber Daniels - Mar 11, 2012 at 9:35 PM
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Yet UNC is somehow 0-2 versus FSU this season. Lots of acorns around.
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- steadward - Mar 12, 2012 at 9:07 PM
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Great, now you are alltime 12-42 against Carolina. When you win your fIrst national title, I might be interested in what you have to say about bball…while I enjoy watching hell freeze over.
