North Carolina overcame a season-high tying 17 turnovers and an eight-point second half deficit to beat Florida State on the road 75-68. (1\/27)<\/p>\n
It was the 10th straight win for the Tar Heels, who move to 17-3 overall and 9-0 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. <\/p>\n
It took a series of runs in the second half to get the job done. Down 46-38, Cormac Ryan spurred a 10-2 run with a pair of threes to tie the score at 48-all with 17 minutes to go.<\/p>\n
Immediately on the Heels of that run, the Tar Heels went on a 13-2 run, seven of which were scored by Elliot Cadeau. That put Carolina up by nine at 61-52.<\/p>\n
The Heels extended the margin to 10 on Ryan’s third three of the half to make it 66-56 with just over eight minutes to play. But Florida State wasn’t through. The Seminoles went on a 7-0 run to cut the margin to three with less than six minutes to go.<\/p>\n
A Ryan inbounds pass was intercepted by FSU’s Primo Spears, who went in for a bucket to cut the lead to just two at 70-68 with 2:36 to go.<\/p>\n
UNC’s engine RJ Davis, who led the Heels with 24 points, scored on a short jumper in the lane with 45 seconds left. About 10 seconds later, Harrison Ingram came up with a game-sealing block that was followed by free throws from Davis down the stretch.<\/p>\n
Carolina’s defense came up big as the Seminoles missed their last five shots and scored just one basket over the last five minutes of the game. <\/p>\n
“The guys stepped it up defensively,” UNC coach Hubert Davis said. “Florida State hit 50 percent of their shots in the first half but only 36 percent in the second half… We defended without fouling. To hold them to only 11 free throw attempts was big.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile the Tar Heels hit 19 of 24 free throws. Cadeau, a freshman, scored a season-high 16 points with half of those points coming from the free throw line. Coach Davis said he did a good job penetrating the lane, scoring, getting fouled or distributing the ball to teammates. He had a game-high six assists.<\/p>\n
Ingram once again accomplished a double-double with 13 points and 17 rebounds. Ryan was the only other Tar Heel in double figures with 10 points.<\/p>\n
Spears led Florida State, now 12-8 an 6-3 in the ACC, with 15 points. <\/p>\n
The first-place Tar Heels, who are ranked second nationally, play at Georgia Tech Tuesday.<\/p>\n