It was the first 30-point, 20-rebound game in North Carolina history and it was the first 20-20 game for a Tar Heel since Tyler Zeller had 20 points and 22 rebounds against OH in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.
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The Tar Heels won their seventh game in a row and have opened ACC play at 3-0, with two of those wins coming by double digits.
Xavier Rathan-Mayes did what he’s done for a second straight year against North Carolina and scored a season-high 30 points on 7/9 shooting from behind the arch. Rathan-Mayes has taken on more of the floor general role this season, but it’s clear that he can still light up the stat sheet on any given night, especially in big games.
It was the first time North Carolina scored over 100 points on the road since February 1, 2011, against Boston College.
Dwayne Bacon had 18 points and seven rebounds and Malik Beasley added 15 points and eight boards for the Seminoles (10-4, 0-2 ACC) at Donald L. Tucker Center. He finished with six while missing seven of nine shots in Saturday’s 84-75 loss at Clemson that ended a six-game winning streak.
The Florida State Seminoles are seen as the team in the ACC that should will make the most significant jump in the league because of the talent and depth they possess. The duo helped Florida State grab its first and only lead just three minutes into the second half when they scored 11 straight Seminoles points to put Florida State up 56-55.
Though the Noles’ have a 10-3 record on the season, they have not played anyone the caliber of the North Carolina Tar Heels. Two have come against North Carolina, including 35 points last season in a game at the Smith Center.
It can be a game that could give the Seminoles some major momentum as they move forward through ACC conference play.
Johnson took advantage of the spacing created by early foul trouble from big men on both teams to score with relative ease throughout the game. “Whenever you see North Carolina, it’s kind of a switch turns on”. Beasley scored 23 on Saturday and senior Devon Bookert had a season-high 21 with six 3-pointers.
The Tar Heels no doubt remember what a freshman guard from Florida State did to them in the last meeting. The former Florida State coach (1997-2001), who has been an assistant on Roy Williams’ staff for 13 years, has carved out a nice career in Chapel Hill as the legendary coach’ s longest-tenured assistant.
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“I like guys than can finish games”, North Carolina bench boss Williams told the media in his post-game presser.
