Florida State University Athletics
FSU Men Put Streak On Line At UNC
2/23/2019 12:14:53 PM | Men's Basketball
WATCH: Leonard Hamilton, Trent Forrest and M.J. Walker preview FSU’s visit to North Carolina
Florida State Notes vs. North Carolina / Florida State Statistics / FSU Players Past, Present Grateful For Coach Leonard Hamilton’s Support
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Call it new blood versus blue blood.
The Florida State men’s basketball team (21-5, 9-4 ACC), ranked 16th in the country and the winner of a school-record eight consecutive ACC games, will visit Chapel Hill, N.C., on Saturday for a date with the No. 8 North Carolina Tar Heels (21-5, 11-2).
UNC, as usual, is near the top of the ACC standings – the Heels are in a three-way tie for first place, just ahead of the Seminoles in a three-way tie for fourth – loaded with future NBA draft picks and has big plans for March.
The Tar Heels have won nine of their last 10, topped Duke, 88-72, on Wednesday night and lead the ACC in scoring (87.5 points per game), rebounding margin (plus-9.3), and assists (19.7).
Which means, as coach Leonard Hamilton often likes to say, it’s a typical North Carolina basketball team.
“It’s more of the same,” Hamilton said. “They have a culture that they have instilled in their program – ‘This is the Carolina way.’ Rebounding, aggressive defense, fast-break offense. …
“There’s no secret. They say, ‘This is who we are. You deal with it.’”
The good news is that, given all Hamilton has to concern himself with between now and tip-off, he at least shouldn’t have to worry about whether his team is fully focused.
Eight-game winning streak or not.
“We’re approaching the games the right way,” sophomore guard M.J. Walker said. “We’re getting our rest. Getting in the gym. Locking in on film.”
The Seminoles don’t need an extensive film study to know that they’ll need to be at their best to win on Saturday.
FSU topped UNC, 81-80, a year ago to snap a seven-game skid against the Tar Heels. And the Seminoles haven’t won at North Carolina’s Smith Center since 2010.
Which isn’t to say that the Seminoles haven’t enjoyed some proud moments against the Tar Heels. FSU earned its first ever ACC basketball win at North Carolina in 1992 behind 25 points from Sam Cassell.
Years later, the Seminoles won their first ACC tournament semifinal over UNC in 2009 and, in 2012, topped the Tar Heels to win their first ACC championship.
This year’s FSU team, already having written its own chapter in the school’s record books, is looking to make one more memory at North Carolina’s expense.
“You’ve got to bring the fight to them,” junior guard Trent Forrest said. “You know they’re going to be on the offensive and defensive boards all the time. They’re always going to be physical. You’ve got to come in with a toughness mindset.”
They’ll have to be quick, too.
Freshman point guard Coby White is averaging 17.0 points per game in ACC and has the sixth-highest scoring average of any UNC freshman of all time.
Not only that, but he can really, really move.
Hamilton said Thursday that White might be among the fastest guards UNC has ever had. No small feat given the school’s history, even when only considering Roy Williams’ tenure.
“He’s all-in-one,” Hamilton said. “He’s a throwback to (former UNC All-American) Phil Ford, he’s also quick, fast and can create off the dribble. He’s one of the fastest point guards I’ve ever seen, and then he has another gear.”
But whereas North Carolina might have the speed, the Seminoles believe they have the depth to keep throwing at White and his cohort as the game moves along.
It’s been a winning formula so far. In ACC play, FSU’s bench has outscored its opponents’ by an average of 32.8-10.4
“That’s the key to our team – the quality of our depth,” Forrest said. “We use it to wear teams down.”