North Carolina 81, Florida State 75: Kennedy Meeks scored a career-high 23 points on 11-of-12 shooting and grabbed seven rebounds as the surging Tar Heels rallied past the host Seminoles.
Marcus Paige added 20 points, seven assists and four steals for North Carolina (18-7, 8-4 ACC), which won its seventh straight game despite James Michael McAdoo being held scoreless. Brice Johnson chipped in with 14 points and 11 rebounds while J.P. Tokoto netted 10 points for the Tar Heels, who shot 51.6 percent from the field.
Ian Miller scored 22 points for Florida State (15-11, 6-8), which led by as many as 15 points in the first half. Montay Brandon tallied 18 points while Aaron Thomas poured in 16 for the Seminoles, who finished 20-of-28 from the free-throw line.
North Carolina missed 10 of its first 11 shots and Miller scored eight early points as Florida State sped out to a 17-3 lead. Johnson later keyed a 14-4 run to cut the deficit to five and Meeks' layup just before the end of the first half pulled the Tar Heels within 36-33.
Nate Britt's jumper gave North Carolina its first lead of the game at 57-55 and Paige knocked down a 3-pointer to stretch the Tar Heels' advantage to eight with just over six minutes remaining. Thomas made a pair of free throws to trim the margin to one before Meeks forced his way inside to put the Tar Heels on top 74-69 and North Carolina held on to win its fourth straight against the Seminoles.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Roy Williams recorded his 300th win at North Carolina. … The Tar Heels started off 0-of-7 from 3-point range before finishing 3-of-13. … North Carolina improved to 46-12 all-time against Florida State.
North Carolina | Florida State | |
Kennedy Meeks 23 | Scoring | Ian Miller 22 |
Marcus Paige 7 | Assists | Ian Miller 2 |
Brice Johnson 11 | Rebounds | Boris Bojanovsky 5 |
Leslie McDonald 4 | Free Throws Made | Montay Brandon 6 |
Marcus Paige 4 | Steals | Aaron Thomas 2 |
Brice Johnson 2 | Blocks | Jarquez Smith 3 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
North Carolina | 81 | 51.6 | 3-13 | 12-20 | 16 | 40 | 6 | 6 | 9 |
Florida State | 75 | 43.1 | 5-13 | 20-28 | 5 | 29 | 3 | 4 | 8 |