15-state Florida’s basketball beat North Carolina 69-66 in the ACC Tournament semifinal tonight. The ‘Noles took an 11-point lead, but the Tar Heels came out of the locker room. The FSU was able to withstand the storm and limit the damage to keep themselves in it, and the defense got up late. The Seminoles held UNC by two points over the last 3:14 of the game and made enough attacks at the end to win after the ACC tournament.
MJ Walker opened the scoring in a transitional layup of a good Balsa Koprivica feed. Unlike the transition bucket, the Seminoles were rusted early. FSU turned the ball over twice in the first three minutes, including a foul communication between Tanor Ngom and RaiQuan Gray. The ‘Noles opened early but could not switch. Through the first four minutes, the teams collectively made two of 15 shots. The Tar Heels took a 4-2 lead during the first media outing.
Malik Osborne set the Seminoles in motion from outside the timeout. Osborne found all the neat on a corner, a great find from Scottie Barnes. Osborne struck his second try in the opposite corner two minutes later to give the Noles an 8-6 lead. Scottie Barnes provided an early highlight with a poster shot over Walker Kessler in transition. The dunk gave Florida State a 12-6 lead during the under-12 exit.
The Seminoles quickly opened up a nine-point lead when Balsa Koprivica lay inside a basket while Kessler darkened for a one-on-one. UNC responded quickly with buckets to their next two possessions of Garrison Brooks and RJ Davis. Barnes’ aggression swung the momentum back in favor of Seminoles. The freshman went straight to Brooks on a one-on-one getaway at Brooks and converted into a difficult one-on-one setup. Koprivica connects with a hook shot on an iso game while the Seminoles have a double-digit lead. FSU led 24-13 among the under-8s.
The Seminoles and Tar Heels both became icy cold over the next three minutes. Both teams made just one shot. Leonard Hamilton called a timeout after a midfielder from Anthony Harris cut the FSU lead to nine with 4:16 left in the half. Anthony Polite got the Seminoles back in the column with a driver of the glass in the paint. Walker follows with an aggressive paint in FSU’s next possession to increase the lead to 13.
The Tar Heels began to increase their defensive intensity over the next few minutes. The pressure on the entire court led to a turnover of the FSU and two free throws from Walker Kessler which cut the lead back to single digits. Gray silenced a rising UNC crowd with a key mid-range jumper in the face of Brooks. After a Caleb Love triple from downtown, Osborne pulled back a triple while the buzz rang at half-time. His third triangle gave the FSU a 35-24 lead to the locker rooms.
The Seminoles shot 47% from the floor while UNC hit only 27% of their shots. The heels made just one triple and Osborne had all three FSUs. The state of Florida has 22 paint points compared to the eight of UNC. The Tar Heels had 11 more release attempts than the Seminoles, but only made five more. The ‘Noles did a great job of returning against UNC’s big points, limiting the Tar Heels to nine offensive boards and repairing it by one board. Osborne’s nine points took the lead. Koprivica added seven points and seven boards in the half.
Armando Bacot got the Tar Heels on the right foot to start the half. The big man converted a one-on-one to quickly limit the backlog to 8. The Seminoles turned the ball over on their first two possessions. After another Bacot bucket, Koprivica made FSU’s first basket of the half on a setback. Caleb Love drained his second triple day from a Walker turnover to reduce the deficit to four just four minutes into the half. Hamilton pushed up his second timeout with FSU 40-36 with 15:33 left.
FSU used their defense to swing the momentum back in their favor. Sardaar Calhoun stole the ball from Kerwin Walton when he came on the field and struck him after an easy goal kick. Tanor Ngom acted in the next UNC possession when he filed a charge against Love. After the first media timeout of the half, Walton responded with his first triple to reduce the FSU lead to three. Koprivica pushed the lead after six with a dunk from a Barnes assist, but Walton could not miss. From a steal side and a long offensive board, Walton drained another one to level the game. The tough Bacot lineup gave the Tar Heels their first lead since six minutes into the game. UNC led 48-46 with 11:32 left over to Hamilton’s third endurance.
The tar heels still overwhelmed the ‘Noles’ low with their size after the timeout. Day’Ron Sharpe converted a one-on-one to give the Heels a five-point lead. Sharpe took advantage of a match with Polite in the next possession for another easy bucket. Four straight points from Barnes brought the ‘Noles back within three. The ‘Noles took the lead back to two Gray free throws, a UNC turnover, and another Koprivica dipped a Barnes supply. The state of Florida led 54-53 during the media break under 8.
North Carolina’s Leaky Black was one-on-two on the line out of time to equalize with 7:47 left. On the other hand, Walker was two for two to gain a two-point lead. Koprivica completed a transition bucket to extend the lead to four with six minutes left. Love tied the game at 59 with a three-point turnaround over Koprivica, but Calhoun responded to the next possession with a triple own reaction. Calhoun polluted Davis with a three-point attempt to send the game to the final media timeout. FSU led 62-61, but Davis shot three to the TO.
Davis took all three out of the break to give UNC a two-point lead with 3:14 left. Love was asked for an offense in the next possession, but Polite missed the front of a one-on-one to end the possession. A shot violation in possession of UNC returned the ball to the ‘Noles’ and Polite made up the missed free throw with a corner try to give FSU a one-point lead with 1:46 left.
An empty possession after an ugly shot from Caleb Love put the ball back in FSU’s hands. Walker made a sticky basket in the paint, but the bucket was denied by a charge. The state of Florida’s defense became strong again as Davis could not make a disputed setup, and Gray grabbed the board. Gray made both of his free kicks to give FSU a three-point lead of 35 seconds.
The Tar Heels missed their seventh straight field goal, but Barnes was asked for a setback that put Sharpe at stake. It was not expensive for FSU as Sharpe missed both free throws. Koprivica made one of two on the line to give FSU a 16-second lead with two possessions. Leaky Black put a hot air ball back to make it a two-point game with three seconds left. Walker passed one off the line one by two to let it lead to three points with three seconds left. The tar heels could not couple at a last second, and the ‘Noles’ danced themselves into the ACC tournament final.
The state of Florida shot 45.3% of the floor and was 5-13 from outside the arc. UNC shot just 33.8% and missed 11 of their 25 free throws. Koprivica took the lead for FSU with 17 points and 11 boards. Barnes added 11 points, five boards and four assists.
The state of Florida will play the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on ESPN for the ACC tournament title tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m.