North Carolina (8-4, 3-2) vs. Florida State (6-2, 2-1)
Donald L. Tucker Center, Tallahassee, Florida; Saturday, 12 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: ACC foes meet as North Carolina matches up against Florida State. Each squad is coming off of a home victory in their last game. Florida State earned a 105-73 win over North Carolina State on Wednesday, while North Carolina won 81-75 over Syracuse on Tuesday.
STEPPING UP: Garrison Brooks and Armando Bacot have led the Tar Heels. Brooks is averaging 10.7 points and 7.9 rebounds while Bacot is putting up 11.3 points and eight rebounds per game. The Seminoles have been led by M.J. Walker and Scottie Barnes. Walker has averaged 15.8 points while Barnes has put up 11.1 points and 4.1 assists per game.
STEPPING IT UP: The Seminoles have scored 82 points per game against conference opponents thus far, an improvement from the 76.8 per game they put up against non-conference opponents.MIGHTY M.J.: Walker has connected on 41.5 percent of the 41 3-pointers he’s attempted and has gone 11 for 28 over his last five games. He’s also converted 93.2 percent of his foul shots this season.
MAKE THE FREEBIES: Florida State is 5-0 when shooting at least 71.4 percent from the foul line and 1-2 when falling shy of that mark. North Carolina is 5-0 when it makes at least 71.4 percent of its free throws and 3-4 this year, otherwise.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Tar Heels have recently used assists to create baskets more often than the Seminoles. Florida State has 48 assists on 88 field goals (54.5 percent) over its past three matchups while North Carolina has assists on 46 of 74 field goals (62.2 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: North Carolina is ranked first among Division I teams with an offensive rebound percentage of 41.9 percent. The Tar Heels have averaged 16.6 offensive boards per game and 19.7 per game over their last three games.
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