North Carolina might have found the means to salvage its season during the past few weeks.
Florida State’s freefall has been dramatic, and the Seminoles are running out of time for a significant turnaround.
The next chance for Florida State to get on track comes when visiting North Carolina on Saturday afternoon at Chapel Hill, N.C.
North Carolina (17-7, 9-4 ACC) has won five of its last six games, with the blunder coming Feb. 5 in a blowout loss to Duke. The Tar Heels were back to winning Tuesday in a 79-77 escape at Clemson.
“I wish people would talk about how this group continues to bounce back every time they get knocked down,” North Carolina coach Hubert Davis said.
Florida State (13-10, 6-7) has lost five games in a row since a six-game winning stretch that included toppling Duke in overtime on Jan. 18. The latest glitch for the Seminoles came with Wednesday night’s 56-51 home loss to Pittsburgh.
“(We) will identify what our challenges are,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “And then we’re doing exactly what we have to do mentally, emotionally, and physically to improve and be better prepared when we go play against Carolina.”
North Carolina is among the cluster of teams near the top of the ACC standings, just a game out of first place.
Part of the key to staying in contention for the Tar Heels could be the play of guard Caleb Love, who has struggled at times. But he set up the winning basket at Clemson with a drive into the lane and an assist on Brady Manek’s go-ahead basket with three seconds remaining.
“It’s about making big plays in big moments,” Davis said.
The Tar Heels led for only slightly more than 16 minutes in the game. Still, North Carolina improved to 8-0 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field.
It’s a period of adjustment for Florida State, which has been dinged by injuries that have resulted in lineup alterations.
“I also think that there’s a little bit of anxiety with first-year guys being put in this situation,” Hamilton said. “Their roles have changed, and everybody has got to regroup physically and mentally and emotionally.”
Florida State has been stuck with two of its three lowest-scoring games in ACC play across the past two games, which were both played at home.
“This is part of where we are and what we got to grow into, being more resilient,” Hamilton said. “Know that when things are not going well, we turn it up on the defensive end, on the rebounding end.”
This is the only scheduled meeting of the season between the teams.
–Field Level Media
