UNC basketball turns up pressure, beats Florida State in ACC opener

CHAPEL HILL – UNC basketball turned up the heat and turned away Florida State’s upset attempt.

Leaning on the energy of the Smith Center and their full-court pressure, the 17th-ranked Tar Heels rallied from a double-digit deficit for a 78-70 win Saturday against the Seminoles in the ACC opener.

UNC (7-1, 1-0 ACC) scored 38 points in a 12-minute stretch of the second half to turn a 14-point deficit into a 13-point lead against FSU (4-3, 0-1).

Following back-to-back wins against top-25 opponents, including a victory against No. 10 Tennessee in the ACC/SEC Challenge, UNC came out flat in the first half against the Noles.

The last time UNC had a nonconference win against a top-10 opponent — 2018 vs. No. 4 Gonzaga — the Heels followed with a 12-point loss to No. 19 Kentucky. They didn’t allow that to happen against FSU, earning their eighth win in a row against the Noles in Chapel Hill.

RJ Davis (27 points), Armando Bacot (13 points, 13 rebounds) and Harrison Ingram (11 points, six rebounds) led UNC. Davis is the first Tar Heel to score at least 27 in three straight games since Joseph Forte.

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Florida State takes advantage of UNC’s poor shooting

UNC led 29-27 late in the first half and the Seminoles responded with an 18-2 extended run to take a 14-point lead three minutes into the second half. At one point, the Tar Heels missed 11 in a row from 3-point range before coming alive in the final 10 minutes.

UNC basketball’s first-half struggles

After dropping 61 first-half points on Tennessee, the Tar Heels had 29 and trailed by six at halftime against Florida State. UNC made seven of its first 11 shots, but missed 15 of its final 19 in the first half and didn’t score in the final three minutes as the Seminoles closed with an 8-0 run. The Tar Heels were 2 of 11 from beyond the arc and had more turnovers (7) than assists (6) in the first half.

UConn up next for UNC in New York

UNC will continue its tough nonconference slate against reigning national champion UConn on Tuesday (9 p.m., ESPN) at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The fourth-ranked Huskies (7-1) dropped their first game of the season Friday in a 69-65 loss at No. 5 Kansas.

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNC basketball vs. Florida State: RJ Davis, Tar Heels win ACC opener