With four conference games left in the season, the FSU Seminoles faced the Tar Heels of North Carolina Monday night in what could be a critical game regarding the Noles chances to make the ACC conference playoffs.
The Noles trailed early but fought back to take as much as a 4-point lead in the first half. However, costly fouls and solid shooting by UNC saw the first half end with a 49-43 UNC lead.
FSU Jr. Malique Ewin went to the locker room with an injury at the beginning of the 2nd half which unfortunately helped UNC to a 14-6 run and a 13-point lead in the first four minutes of the half.
With some tough defense, the Noles cut the lead to 6 with 11:37 left in the game. FSU had a few spurts of offense and some timely 3-point shooting; however, they couldn’t sustain any momentum and North Carolina pulled away to a 96-85 victory. The loss drops Florida State to ninth place in the ACC with a 7-10 conference record.
The Noles were led by Jamir Watkins with 26 points with Jerry Deng contributing 16.
FSU gets a few days rest before traveling to play second ranked Duke, Saturday at 7pm.