If it weren’t bad enough to try to withstand a career-high 32-point, eight three-point performance by Deividas Dulkys, North Carolina turned the ball over a season-high 22 times and shot a season-low 37 percent to fall 90-57 at Florida State.

Dulkys, who averages six points a game, hit only five threes in his last nine games but was on fire from the outset. Midway through the first half, FSU was already up by double figures at 25-15 and Dulkys already had 13 points.

Despite not scoring the last 3:31 of the first half, the Tar Heels held tough the rest of the first half and trailed only 36-28 at the half.

Instead of Carolina making its patented early second-half run, the Seminoles went on a 17-2 run in the first five minutes to bust out to a 53-30 lead. It was only downhill for the Tar Heels from there.

For more on the game and for more analysis, please click here.

The UNC Tar Heels defense stifled Miami’s high-scoring guards while the Tar Heels offense was led by their low-scoring guards in a 73-56 victory tonight. The Hurricanes’ guards had a hard time getting quality shots while the Tar Heels’ guards got a number of layups. In fact, their top four guards finished seven of 29 from the field.

Miami’s leading scorer, guard Malcolm Grant, only managed five points and didn’t even score his first point until almost six minutes into the second half. It was Dexter Strickland who mostly guarded him.

Meanwhile Strickland had a season-high 14 points, 10 of which came on layups or very short jumpers. Similarly, Kendall Marshall had a season-high 12 points, eight of which came on layups or very short jumpers and two of which came at the free throw line.

For more on the game, please click here.

University of North Carolina head coach Larry Fedora welcomed two new student-athletes to the football program Monday, including linebacker Shakeel Rashad and tight end Terrance Knox (pictured).

Rashad is a 6-2, 220-pound prospect from Jacksonville, Fla., where he attended The Episcopal School. He is listed as one of the top 50 players in Florida by The Gainesville Sun and is the No. 37 outside linebacker in the country by Rivals.com.

Knox comes to Chapel Hill from Concord, where he played tight end and defensive end for Concord High School. He focused primarily on offense as a senior and caught 32 passes for 426 yards and seven touchdowns. As a junior, he had 14 catches for 253 yards and eight touchdowns. Scout.com considers him the No. 30 tight end prospect in the nation.

Hanson graduates

Quarterback Braden Hanson has graduated from the University of North Carolina and will transfer to the University of North Dakota for his final season of eligibility.

Hanson played in six games in 2011 as the backup to Bryn Renner. For the season, he was 9 of 16 for 185 yards. He also saw action in three games in 2009.

Evidently ACC play brings out the best in the best players. Harrison Barnes, Tyler Zeller and John Henson, North Carolina’s big three, were the big three in the ACC opener, combining for 59 points, 21 rebounds, five blocked shots and five steals, during an 83-60 victory over Boston College.

“ACC games help you focus,” Zeller said after the game.

That being said, the bench, which has given a big boost to the Tar Heels this season, didn’t play very well. The big three subs – Reggie Bullock, PJ Hairston and James M. McAdoo – shot just four of 17 field goals, scoring just 11 points while turning the ball over four times.

BC coach Steve Donahue said he sees a big improvement in the big guys for Carolina. “They are a lot better basketball team than they were last year,” Donahue said. “They are playing with a purpose and the three big guys (Barnes, Teller and Henson) have gotten better.”

For more on Carolina’s victory over Boston College, which started five freshmen, please click here.

University of North Carolina head football coach Larry Fedora announced the hiring of eight assistant coaches Tuesday, including six who assisted him at Southern Miss., one who was a former defensive coordinator in the Atlantic Coast Conference and another who is returning for a second coaching stop in Chapel Hill.

Unfortunately, he is not retaining Ken Browning who has been a coach at UNC for 18 years. He is well known and respected by high school coaches and has been a solidifying force through five coaching changes, which helps with recruiting in North Carolina. Prior to joining the Heels, Browning was the head coach and athletic director at Northern Durham High School for 18 years. He posted a 178-35 record and won the 1993 4-A state title and Shrine Bowl. Over his last three years, Northern built a 43-2 record and he was named the North Carolina Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 1992 and 1993. He became only the third coach to win both the state title and Shrine Bowl in the same year. The instinct is to get rid of all vestiges of the previous Carolina regime but it would have behooved Fedora to keep that positive continuity with North Carolina high schools.

Only one UNC coach remains as Fedora announced he will retain strength and conditioning coach Tom Myslinski, who completed just his first year in Chapel Hill.

The six assistants Fedora brings from Southern Miss are defensive coordinator Dan Disch, defensive assistant and special teams coordinator David Duggan, defensive line coach Deke Adams, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Blake Anderson, tight ends coach Walt Bell and offensive line coach Chris Kapilovic.

In 2011, Southern Miss had arguably its best season in school history, winning a school-record 12 games, including the Conference USA championship over previously unbeaten Houston, and the Hawaii Bowl over Nevada. The Golden Eagles averaged a school record 461.4 yards per game (6,459 total yards), which ranked 16th in the country. USM was one of just 11 FBS schools to average 200 yards per game both passing and rushing.

Defensively, Southern Miss led Conference USA and ranked seventh in the nation in pass efficiency defense. The Golden Eagles were second in CUSA in total defense, scoring defense and rushing defense. Southern Miss set an NCAA record with 11 interception returns for touchdowns.

Gunter Brewer, who coached five years at Carolina from 2000-2004 and was most recently the offensive coordinator at Mississippi for two seasons, returns to Chapel Hill to coachwide receivers and serve as UNC’s passing game coordinator. Brewer has coached several outstanding wide receivers in stops at Marshall, Oklahoma State, UNC and Mississippi, including three Biletnikoff Award finalists.

Vic Koenning will serve as Carolina’s associate head coach for defense. He recently led Illinois to a 20-14 win over UCLA in the Kraft FightHunger Bowl as the interim head coach. Koenning is a 24-year college coaching veteran who served three years as Clemson’s defensive coordinator from 2005-08. Each of his four Tiger defenses finished in the top 25 in scoring, total, and pass efficiency defense. He also was head coach at Wyoming in the early 2000s.

Carolina has hired eight of its nine on-field assistant coaches. Fedora plans to hire a running backs coach in the near future. Former UNC player and coach Randy Jordan is the favorite for that position.

– News release and added commentary