By R.L. Bynum
Florida State (7–6) at No. 12 North Carolina (12–1)
When: 7 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Smith Center
Officials: Roger Ayers, Lee Cassell and Kip Kissinger
TV: ESPN2: Dave O’Brien play by play, Cory Alexander analyst
Radio: Tar Heel Sports Network (affiliates list; streams on the Varsity Network app);
Jones Angell play-by-play, Tyler Zeller analyst
Coaches: Luke Loucks (7–6 in first season at Florida State, first season as a head coach) and Hubert Davis (113–46 in fifth season, all at UNC; was 228–95 in nine seasons as a UNC assistant coach)
UNC projected starters: Kyan Evans, Seth Trimble, Luka Bogavac, Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar
Series: UNC leads 57–16 (see list below), including are 24–4 in Chapel Hill and 21–4 in the Smith Center, with wins in the last six overall meetings and the last eight in Chapel Hill.
Line: UNC -15½
Over/under: 162½
Moneylines: FSU +920; UNC -1,800
Records vs. spread: FSU 7–6; UNC 8–5
Quad designation: Florida State’s NET ranking is 128, making this a Quad 3 game.
Common opponents: None
Florida State results (all seven wins are Quad 4, including three against SWAC teams; Seminoles 0–3 in Quad 1 games, 0–2 in Quad 3 games and 0–1 in Quad 3 games)
Oct. 16: 109–105 exhibition loss to Alabama in Birmingham, Ala.
Oct. 26: 88–54 exhibition win over Florida A&M
Nov. 4: 108–76 win vs. Alcorn State
Nov. 7: 101–64 win vs. Alabama State
Nov. 11: 78–76 loss at Florida
Nov. 18: 78–73 win vs. UT Martin
Nov. 21: 98–72 win vs. Georgia Southern
Nov. 25: 89–59 win vs. CSU Bakersfield
Nov. 28: 95–59 loss to Texas A&M in Tampa
Dec. 2: 107–73 loss vs. Georgia
Dec. 6: 82–67 loss vs. Houston at Toyota Center in Houston
Dec. 13: 103–95 loss vs UMass in Sunrise, Fla.
Dec. 16: 97–69 loss at Dayton
Dec. 19: 96–49 loss vs. Mississippi Valley State
Dec. 22: 87–63 win vs. Jacksonville
Projected Florida State starters
No. 6 | G | Robert McCray V (top photo) | 6–4, 188 | senior | Jacksonville transfer
— Team-leading 13.5 points, 44.0 FG%, 28.3 3P%, 67.4 FT%, 3.8 rebounds, 92 assists, 45 turnovers, 19 steals
— Led Jacksonville last season with 16.2 points, with career-highs of 4.5 assists and 1.4 steals
— Played 14 games as a freshman at Wake Forest, then redshirted there the next season before transferring to Jacksonville, where he played the last two seasons.
— Played three scoreless minutes in his only game with the Deacs against UNC, a 98–76 Wake Forest win on Jan. 22, 2022.
No. 7 | F | Chauncey Wiggins | 6–10, 225 | senior | Clemson transfer
— 12.0 points, 40.0 FG%, 29.1 3P%, team-leading 91.3 FT%, 4.3 rebounds; totals of 10 assists, 14 turnovers, 4 steals
— Averaged 5.6 points in three seasons at Clemson, scoring a career-high 19 points on Dec. 16, 2023, against Memphis. Combined for 24 points in going 2–2 against UNC.
No. 10 | G | Lajae Jones | 6–7, 220 | senior | St. Bonaventure transfer
— 11.7 points, 40.5 FG%, 32.4 3P%, 73.9 FT%, 4.6 rebounds; totals of 14 assists, 19 turnovers, 13 blocks, 17 steals
— Scored career-highs of 36 points and 10 3-pointers (on 21 attempts) in the Seminoles’ 98–72 home win Nov. 21 over Georgia Southern (highlights below). His career-high at St. Bonaventure was 24 (twice).
— Played freshman season at Tarleton State and his sophomore season at Barton Community College (in Kansas), leading it to an NJCAA national title, before playing last season with St. Bonaventure
No. 1 | G | Martin Somerville | 6–3, 185 | sophomore | UMass Lowell transfer
— 9.7 points, 38.5 FG%, team-high 40.5 3P%, 82.8 FT%, 3.2 rebounds; totals of 22 assists, 19 turnovers, 21 steals
— Scored career-high 26 points for UMass Lowell in its 70–62 win over NJIT on Jan. 1, 2025
— Scored season-high 23 points Dec. 22 in home 87–63 win vs. Jacksonville
No. 25 | F | Alex Steen | 6–9, 230 | senior | Florida Southern transfer
— 7.3 points, 52.7 FG%, 0–1 3P, 69.0 FT%, team-high 6.7 rebounds; totals of 8 assists, 10 turnovers, 10 blocks, 8 steals
— Led Florida Southern to two NCAA Division II tournament berths, averaging 17.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.9 blocks in the last two seasons; had 17 double-doubles last season
— Scored season-high 13 points against in a 87–73 Nov. 18 win over UT Martin and in an 89–59 home win Nov. 25 over Cal State Bakersfield, pulling down a season-high 10 rebounds in the latter
More on Tar Heels
— Tablet teaching: How halftime iPad session helped Wilson deal with double-teams
— UNC’s ACC opener with FSU promises to be high-tempo, perimeter shootout
— ACC Network documentary looks extensively at UNC’s 1993 national championship team
— Wilson’s history-making first 13 games echo UNC’s greatest freshmen
— Above the rim and beyond: Wilson’s dunking show rolls on
— High arc, high impact: Veesaar’s 3-point shooting stretches floor, limits of UNC’s offense
— Analytics favor UNC in most games, but February road grit could earn high seed
— UNC second-highest ACC team in NET after jump; Quad 1 game becomes Quad 2; 4 becomes 3
— Eight is enough: Tar Heels settling into rotation entering ACC play
Notes
— Florida State prioritizes up-tempo play with a high volume of 3-point attempts, influenced by first-year Seminoles coach Luke Loucks’ NBA background, with the style modeled after Alabama’s under Coach Nate Oats. The Seminoles rank second nationally in 3-point attempts per game (36.2), 12th in 3-pointers per game (11.4), but 281st in 3-point shooting percentage (31.42%; 16th in the ACC).
— The Seminoles are 18th in the ACC rebounds (39.77 per game; 96th in the country), 18th in rebounding margin (-1.08), 13th in the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.29; 134th in the country). They average 85 points per game but allow 78.3.
— Carolina leads the country in effective field goal percentage (40.1%) and is second in the country in two-point field goal percentage defense (40.5%).
— UNC, 58–14 in ACC openers and 64–8 in ACC home openers, opens conference play against Florida State for the second time in three seasons.
— Carolina will play its 10th regular-season home game before the new year for the first time since doing so in the 2009–10 season. The Tar Heels will play only two January home games for the first time since the 1990–91 season.
— The Tar Heels have held their first 13 opponents to fewer than 75 points for the first time since the 1985–86 season. They haven’t done it through the first 14 games since the 1981–82 national championship team did it for all 34 games.
— Making 8.46 3-pointers per game, UNC is on pace for the second-most in program history behind the 8.67 in the 2018–19 season with Cameron Johnson, Coby White, Kenny Williams and Luke Maye. The 25.2 3-point attempts per game exceed the school record of 23.9 during the 2018–19 season.
— UNC’s average of 10.08 turnovers equals the school record set in the 2023–24 season. The four lowest turnover averages and five of the six lowest have come under Hubert Davis. The 1.71 assist-to-turnover ratio is the lowest in program history, bettering the 1.65 in the 2015–16 season.
— Veesaar and Wilson (a combined 36.4 points and 20 rebounds per game, with 36 blocks, 55 assists, 59.4% field-goal shooting and 162 free-throw attempts) are on pace to become the first duo in ACC history to average at least 16 points and at least nine rebounds and shoot at least 55% from the floor. Only four pairs of ACC teammates have achieved those scoring and rebounding averages, and none since N.C. State’s Vann Williford and Paul Coder in 1969–70. The only other UNC duo to do it was Lee Shaffer (18.2 points and 11.2 rebounds) and Doug Moe (16.8, 11.3) in 1959–60.
— Either Wilson or Veesaar, the first UNC duo to average at least nine rebounds since John Henson (9.9) and Tyler Zeller (9.6) in 2011–12, have led the team in scoring and rebounding in 12 of 13 games.
— Wilson has nine double-doubles (third in the country) and Veesaar six (seventh in the country). The six games with both earning double-doubles is the fourth-most in a season in program history.
Series: UNC 57, Florida State 16
UNC season statistics
Florida State season statistics
Statistical comparison
| Category | FSU | UNC |
| Points per game | 85.0 | 81.4 |
| Scoring defense | 78.3 | 63.5 |
| Scoring margin | +6.7 | +17.8 |
| FG% | 42.2% | 47.5% |
| 3P FG % | 31.4% | 33.6% |
| 3P per game | 11.4 | 8.5 |
| FT% | 71.5% | 68.4% |
| FG% defense | 44.2% | 36.2% |
| 3FG% defense | 32.4% | 28.0% |
| Opponent 3P/game | 8.2 | 6.2 |
| Rebounds per game | 38.7 | 42.3 |
| Offensive rebounds/game | 14.6 | 12.1 |
| Rebounding margin | -1.1 | +8.5 |
| Assists per game | 16.2 | 17.2 |
| Turnovers per game | 12.5 | 10.1 |
| Assist-to-turnover ratio | 1.3 | 1.7 |
| Turnovers forced/game | 17.5 | 9.7 |
KenPom comparison
| Category | FSU | UNC |
| Overall ranking | 109 | 22 |
| Offensive efficiency | 112.0 (114) | 119.4 (40) |
| Defensive efficiency | 105.9 (113) | 97.0 (19) |
| Effective FG% | 50.6 (201) | 54.7 (76) |
| Turnover % | 16.4 (119) | 14.6 (36) |
| Offensive rebound % | 34.5 (84) | 35.1 (68) |
| FTA/FGA | 33.8 (223) | 40.5 (77) |
| Strength of schedule | 242 | 171 |
| Team | League | Overall | NET* |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 Duke | 11–1 | 22–2 | 3 |
| No. 15 Virginia | 10–2 | 21–3 | 18 |
| No. 20 Clemson | 10–2 | 20–5 | 33 |
| N.C. State | 9–3 | 18–7 | 29 |
| Miami | 8–3 | 19–5 | 36 |
| No. 24 Louisville | 8–4 | 18–6 | 14 |
| No. 11 North Carolina | 7–4 | 19–5 | 25 |
| SMU | 6–5 | 17–7 | 34 |
| Virginia Tech | 6–6 | 17–8 | 51 |
| California | 5–7 | 17–8 | 63 |
| Syracuse | 5–7 | 14–11 | 68 |
| Stanford | 5–7 | 16–9 | 69 |
| Florida State | 4–7 | 11–13 | 94 |
| Wake Forest | 3–8 | 12–12 | 65 |
| Boston College | 2–9 | 9–15 | 151 |
| Georgia Tech | 2–10 | 11–14 | 159 |
| Notre Dame | 2–10 | 11–14 | 88 |
| Pittsburgh | 2–10 | 9–16 | 125 |
* — Through Wednesday games
Tuesday’s results
Miami 75, No. 11 North Carolina 66
No. 15 Virginia 61, Florida State 58
SMU 89, Notre Dame 81
No. 4 Duke 70, Pittsburgh 54
Wednesday’s results
Virginia Tech 76, No. 20 Clemson 66
Syracuse 107, California 100, 2 OTs
Wake Forest 83, Georgia Tech 67
Stanford 70, Boston College 64
Saturday’s games
No. 20 Clemson at No. 4 Duke, noon, ESPN
Georgia Tech at Notre Dame, noon, The CW
California at Boston College, noon, ACC Network
Pittsburgh at No. 11 North Carolina, 2 p.m., ESPN
Florida State at Virginia Tech, 2 p.m., ACC Network
SMU at Syracuse, 2 p.m., The CW
No. 24 Louisville vs. Baylor in Fort Worth, Texas, 4 p.m., ESPN or ESPN2
Stanford at Wake Forest, 4 p.m., ACC Network
Miami at N.C. State, 4 p.m., ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU
No. 15 Virginia vs. Ohio State in Nashville, 8 p.m., Fox
Monday’s game
Syracuse at No. 4 Duke, 7 p.m., ESPN
Tuesday’s games
Boston College at Florida State, 6 p.m., ACC Network
No. 11 North Carolina at N.C. State, 7 p.m., ESPN
No. 24 Louisville at SMU, 7 p.m., ESPN2
Virginia Tech at Miami, 8 p.m., ACC Network
| Date | Month/day | Time | Opponent/event (current ranks) | TV/ record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | ||||
| 24 | Friday | L, 78–76 | vs. No. 22 BYU in SLC | Exhib. |
| 29 | Wednesday | W, 95–53 | vs. Winston-Salem St. | Exhib. |
| November | ||||
| 3 | Monday | W, 94–54 | vs. Central Arkansas | 1–0 |
| 7 | Friday | W, 87–74 | vs. No. 9 Kansas | 2–0 |
| 11 | Tuesday | W, 89–74 | vs. Radford | 3–0 |
| 14 | Friday | W, 97–53 | vs. N.C. Central | 4–0 |
| 18 | Tuesday | W, 73–61 | vs. Navy | 5–0 |
| Fort Myers Tip-Off | ||||
| 25 | Tuesday | W, 85–70 | vs. St. Bonaventure | 6–0 |
| 27 | Thursday | L, 74–58 | vs. No. 10 Michigan State | 6–1 |
| December | ACC/SEC Men’s Challenge | |||
| 2 | Tuesday | W, 67–64 | at No. 25 Kentucky | 7–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 7 | Sunday | W, 81–61 | vs. Georgetown | 8–1 |
| 13 | Saturday | W, 80–62 | vs. USC Upstate | 9–1 |
| 16 | Tuesday | W, 77–58 | vs. ETSU | 10–1 |
| CBS Sports Classic in Atlanta | ||||
| 20 | Saturday | W, 71–70 | vs. Ohio State | 11–1 |
| ————————— | ||||
| 22 | Monday | W, 99–51 | vs. East Carolina | 12–1 |
| 30 | Tuesday | W, 79–66 | vs. Florida State | 13–1, 1–0 ACC |
| January | ||||
| 3 | Saturday | L, 97–83 | at SMU | 13–2, 1–1 |
| 10 | Saturday | W, 87–84 | vs. Wake Forest | 14–2, 2–1 |
| 14 | Wednesday | L, 95–90 | at Stanford | 14–3, 2–2 |
| 17 | Saturday | L, 84–78 | at California | 14–4, 2–3 |
| 21 | Wednesday | W, 91–69 | vs. Notre Dame | 15–4, 3–3 |
| 24 | Saturday | W, 85–80 | at No. 15 Virginia | 16–4, 4–3 |
| 31 | Saturday | W, 91–75 | at Georgia Tech | 17–4, 5–3 |
| February | ||||
| 2 | Monday | W, 87–77 | vs. Syracuse | 18–4, 6–3 |
| 7 | Saturday | W, 71–68 | vs. No. 4 Duke | 19–4, 7–3 |
| 10 | Tuesday | L, 75–66 | at Miami | 19–5, 7–4 |
| 14 | Saturday | 2 p.m. | vs. Pittsburgh | ESPN |
| 17 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | at N.C. State | ESPN |
| 21 | Saturday | 1 p.m. | at Syracuse | ABC |
| 23 | Monday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 24 Louisville | ESPN |
| 28 | Saturday | 6:30 or 8:30 | vs. Virginia Tech | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| March | ||||
| 3 | Tuesday | 7 p.m. | vs. No. 20 Clemson | ESPN or ESPN2 |
| 7 | Saturday | 6:30 | at No. 4 Duke | ESPN |
| 10–14 | Tues.-Sat. | ACC tournament | Spectrum Center, Charlotte |
Photo via seminoles.com
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