By Adam Lucas
1. Wow. Carolina absolutely blitzed Florida State on Saturday afternoon, getting the best half in the Hubert Davis era in the first 20 minutes to build a 62-24 advantage. That was the largest UNC halftime lead since 2006, the largest halftime lead for Carolina ever at the Smith Center in an ACC game, and Carolina’s third-biggest all-time halftime lead at the Smith Center. The final score was a 94-74 Carolina win.
2. The Heels finished with four players in double figures, led by Caleb Love with 18 points. Armando Bacot had another double-double, posting 17 points to go with 14 rebounds. As was fairly predictable, Carolina couldn’t maintain the same efficiency in the second half.
3. Leaky Black very much set the tone for that early onslaught. The senior either scored or assisted on four of Carolina’s first seven baskets. One of his assists rewarded a sprinting Brady Manek for a dunk, and another freed Caleb Love for a three-pointer. Black was also the key figure in forcing an early Seminole shot clock violation as part of an early FSU struggle that included not making a field goal until the 11:32 mark.
4. Everything just looked easier for Carolina in that game. That includes the transition game, which saw the Tar Heels put up 16 fast break points in the first half alone. A depleted FSU team, which also lost Caleb Mills less than eight minutes into the game, simply didn’t put up much defensive resistance, and that’s why the Heels hit 74.2 percent from the field in the first half. Carolina finished with 20 fast break points.
5. A brief power outage was overshadowed by the dynamic first half. A power surge tripped some breakers, leaving the teams to play approximately seven minutes of game time with reduced lighting. The full lights were back on before half. . Seven minutes of game time with reduced light, full light back on before end of first half. Credit Smith Center assistant director Brett LeClair with being the first to note that Carolina simply shot the lights out.
6. Keeping in mind that Carolina still has a home date with Syracuse, Leonard Hamilton’s choice to go zone for the second half might prove to be beneficial. It’s not often Carolina gets that much long-term exposure to a zone this late in the season, especially against a team with FSU’s athleticism and length.
7. So complete was the domination in the first half that Davis was able to use his bench more generously. Dontrez Styles had five quality early minutes, including an offensive rebound, a basket through contact. He also committed a turnover when he dribbled too much, but part of that responsibility also lies with his teammates for not making themselves available. Styles finished with eight points in 16 minutes and also added four rebounds. Keep in mind that he’s a freshman–he also had three turnovers.
8. Carolina also got good contributions from Puff Johnson, who hit a three-pointer and drew a charge in the first half. Johnson finished with five points and three boards. Adding in nine from Kerwin Walton, the Heels got 22 bench points.
9. As you probably already know, Dawson Garcia will not be in the mix for the remainder of the season. While Garcia’s loss definitely limits Carolina’s post options–they could have used him, for example, on Tuesday night when Bacot battled foul trouble at Clemson–it does provide some more certainty with the Tar Heel personnel for the rest of the year.
10. In the long-term picture, this was a very good week for Carolina’s NCAA Tournament credentials. Following a big victory over Purdue, Michigan has moved into 30th in the NCAA’s NET rankings. Why does that matter? Because the Heels’ victory over Michigan now counts as a Quadrant 1 victory, which is the first of the season. In other good news, Miami is currently playing Wake Forest, which means one of those two teams will take a loss–bumping the Tar Heels up the ACC standings and giving another loss to a team that currently holds the ACC tiebreaker over Carolina (both Miami and Wake hold the tiebreaker over the Heels). Keep an eye on Wake, as the Deacs’ next two games are against Duke and Notre Dame–two other teams jostling with the Heels near the top of the league. There’s going to be movement in those standings over the next week or so. Carolina just needs to keep winning.