UNC Basketball vs. FSU: Game preview, info, prediction and more

The UNC Basketball program finds themselves one win away from competing in the 2021 Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title game on Saturday but before they can get there, a rematch with Florida State awaits.

While the Tar Heels have won both of their games so far in Greensboro, the Seminoles have yet to hit the court and will make their debut on Friday night. After earning the No. 2 seed and a double bye, Florida State’s game against Duke was postponed on Thursday due to a positive test in the Blue Devils’ program. That gave the Seminoles essentially another bye which would be a good or bad thing.

Florida State hasn’t played in six days and is coming off a tough loss on the road at Notre Dame to wrap up their season, failing to clinch the ACC regular season title. The Seminoles looked frustrated in that road game in South Bend, committing turnovers and giving up open shots.

They are either going to come out rusty or the extra day of rest will help.

For the Tar Heels, they are coming off a blowout win over Notre Dame and then a hard fought win over a good Virginia Tech team. UNC’s bigs had their way with the Fighting Irish, dominating in the paint but it took them a bit longer to get going against the Hokies on Thursday. However, UNC continued to go to their strength and it paid off for them as they punched their ticket to the semifinals tonight.

I’d imagine UNC would love to play through their strength again on Friday against Florida State and might use a blue print from just a few weeks ago when these two teams last met.

After Florida State jumped out to an early led and had a 12-point halftime advantage before the Tar Heels rallied to stun them and pull off the upset. They did so on the back of Walker Kessler who had a career night for UNC in the win.

Florida State did hold off UNC back in February in Tallahassee despite the Tar Heels playing them tough. But the Seminoles three-point shooting and experience from M.J. Walker helped them pull ahead late to secure the victory.  The Seminoles are a very talented team that matches up well with UNC. They have the bigs to not get dominated in the paint and legit three-point shooters, which is an area the Tar Heels struggle with.

This rubber match should be another good one that comes down to the wire.

Key to Victory for UNC

The guard play. The Tar Heels’ bigs have played very well in this tournament so far and are doing their job not only keeping possessions alive with offensive rebounds but also scoring in the paint too. But now its time for the guards to collectively play better.

On Thursday, R.J. Davis probably had the best game of his UNC career in the win over Virginia Tech as he did it all in terms of scoring, facilitating and defense. UNC is going to need both Caleb Love and Kerwin Walton to get going, especially from the perimeter as both have struggled in this tournament so far.

Something to Watch

The size of Florida State against the UNC bigs. I can’t talk enough about the Tar Heels’ bigs in this one and how the Seminoles can matchup with them. We saw Virginia Tech go to a physical style of play against UNC and it worked before they were worn out by UNC’s depth. Will that be the case in this one?

I wouldn’t be shocked if the Seminoles hung with the Tar Heels early in terms of the paint but with the rotation UNC has in Day’Ron Sharpe, Armando Bacot, Garrison Brooks and Walker Kessler it could be a challenge to do it for 40 minutes.

What you need to know

WHAT?  North Carolina Tar Heels (18-9, 10-6 ACC) vs. Florida State Seminoles (15-5, 11-4 ACC)
WHEN? Friday, March 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET
WHERE? Greensboro, North Carolina
TV? ESPN
RADIO? Tar Heel Sports Network
LINE? N/A
LAST MEETING? UNC beat Florida State 78-70 on February 27th.
ALL-TIME SERIES? UNC leads 51-15
PREDICTION? UNC 82, FSU 81

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