The North Carolina Tar Heels faced a second-half surge from their opponent for the second-straight game on Monday night. But like they did against Virginia, the Tar Heels managed to survive and get another much-needed win.
North Carolina held off Florida State Monday night to secure a 77-66 win over the Seminoles.
The Tar Heels built a big 43-25 lead at halftime backed by hot three-point shooting. UNC made 11 three-pointers in the first half, taking control of the game at about the 10-minute mark. They caught fire from the field and were aggressive offensively.
And they did so with Armando Bacot having to sit most of the first half with two fouls.
Coming out of the second half, Florida State battled back. UNC was able to answer for the most part but a 21-6 run late by the Seminoles cut the lead to 64-59. Like they did against Miami, the Seminoles found success on offense and tightened up on defense as the Tar Heels struggled from the field.
The Tar Heels answered with a big bucket by RJ Davis but it was Leaky Black’s dunk that extended the lead to 68-62 that sealed the deal:
GET UP!!! @LeakyBlack 🤯
📺 ESPN pic.twitter.com/1jvkJ8wgVN
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) February 28, 2023
North Carolina executed well for the most part in this game despite going in a scoring drought in the second half. They did that with Bacot scoring just 1 point after missing all four of his attempts.
UNC was led by R J Davis who scored 19 points while Leaky Black had a career-high 18 points. Caleb Love continued his hot play, scoring 16 and Pete Nance added 15.
The Tar Heels shot 48.3 percent from the three-point line, building off that performance against Virginia.
Next up for UNC is the regular season finale against Duke on Saturday in the Dean Dome. UNC needs to keep winning as many games as possible as they still find themselves on the bubble this week.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01fvdcv0v20j1dne5g player_id=01eqbvp13nn1gy6hd4 image=]
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.