900! Roy Williams gets milestone win as UNC comes back to beat No. 11 Florida State
North Carolina pulled off the kind of comeback that could change the course of its season. The Tar Heels rallied from down 16 to defeat No. 11 Florida State 78-70 before a spirited crowd in the Dean E. Smith Center.
The win made coach Roy Williams just the fourth NCAA Division I men’s basketball coach to reach 900 career wins.
The Tar Heels (14-8, 9-5 ACC) secured their first win over a ranked team in four tries and just their second Quad 1 victory in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). After having their NCAA tournament worthiness rightfully questioned following an 83-70 loss to Marquette on Wednesday, the Tar Heels gave a performance that made it okay to believe in them again.
Of course, they have to handle a little prosperity much better than they have their previous two biggest wins of the season. After beating Duke on Feb. 6 was when players and team managers were caught on video maskless at a social gathering that ended up getting the Miami game canceled. After beating Louisville by 45 points, they responded with Wednesday night’s dud against the Golden Eagles.
“Louisville was a big win for us, but then we lay the egg against Marquette,” said guard R.J. Davis, who had 12 points. “We’re trying to reduce going up and down, laying the eggs having a big win. Everyone wants to win, that’s the main thing.”
Carolina has a short turnaround before it has to play at Syracuse on Monday, with the chance for another Quad 1 win at stake. But it should be floating to upstate New York after the dramatic second-half rally in which it shot 50 percent from the floor and scored 49 points.
Williams said he thought the win over Louisville would have been the springboard the team needed to finish the season strong, but “the dadgum diving board broke, and everybody fell in the pond.”
“The guys appreciate how hard they had to work on the defensive end in the second half,” Williams said. “And I think going to the free throw line and making the free throws are things that they’re going to remember as well, so I’m hopeful.”
Suffice it to say, Williams never quite experienced a victory like this one in his previous 899 wins.
The Tar Heels got a boost from the crowd, which due to COVID-19 restrictions had been virtually non-existent for home games all season. Attendance was limited to family members and guests of players, which made games in the 21,750-seat Smith Center feel hollow.
Once the state announced it was easing restrictions and permitting 15 percent of capacity for indoor arenas, UNC came up with a plan to allow 75 percent of its tickets, about 2,400, to go towards students. The total attendance was about 3,200.
“It was the best 3,200 crowd I’ve ever seen in my life,” Williams said. “I can’t explain to them enough how much better atmosphere it was. I can’t explain to them enough about how helpful it was. And I’ve never lost a game because the crowd, but they helped us win this game because they didn’t give up.”
There were plenty of reasons to doubt after a dismal first half. Carolina shot a season-low 25 percent from the floor and rang up 14 turnovers. It followed its dreadful performance against Marquette, in which it trailed by as many as 18 points, by falling behind 39-23 to the Seminoles.
Freshman center Walker Kessler, who started the second half for Armando Bacot, led the charge for the Tar Heels. He scored eight of his career-high 20 points during the opening five minutes that helped erase a 12-point halftime deficit.
UNC scored on eight of its first nine possessions to start the second half and completed the comeback with a dunk that made the score 46-44. It wasn’t quite George Lynch completing a 21-point comeback with his dunk in 1993 against FSU, but Williams said it reminded him of that game.
Kessler quickly endeared himself to the crowd with blocked shots, face-up jumpers and drop-step dunks. He was an unlikely spark, who may have been playing more minutes just because of Bacot’s foul trouble in the first half.
It didn’t matter why he was out there though, just that he performed. At one point in the second half, the Smith Center crowd began chanting, “Wal-ker, Kess-ler.”
“Playing at a storied program in a historic arena, hearing your name chanted some, it’s pretty cool,” Kessler said. “I would recommend it if you’ve never experienced it.”
Carolina has the experience of having major letdowns after major wins so guard Kerwin Walton said they would only get better now. At the very least, Williams could guarantee, “I don’t think there’ll be any videos or anything about our guys out tonight. They will enjoy this. Now we got to move on.”
Here are updates from earlier:
Heels energized by Kessler, crowd
Freshmen center Walker Kessler has a career-high 18 points as the Tar Heels lead FSU 59-54 with 7:58 remaining. Kessler has scored 12 in the second half to power Carolina’s rally from down 12 at halftime.
Since facing its biggest deficit at 39-23, the Heels have outscored the Seminoles 36-15. FSU has played as careless as UNC did in the first half with 10 second-half turnovers.
Noles lead at halftime
FSU is up 41-29 at halftime thanks in part to holding UNC to a season-low tying 25 percent shooting from the field. The Heels also shot 25 percent for a half in its loss at Virginia.
Carolina isn’t helping itself much with 14 turnovers -- one game after having 19 turnovers in its loss to Marquette -- which has led to 19 FSU points. Some have been careless, like Walker Kessler being stuck in the air with nowhere to go and trying to force a pass. Many have been because of the length of FSU’s defense getting deflections and getting into passing lanes.
The Noles were led in scoring by RayQuan Gray’s nine points. Kessler led the Heels with six points.
Florida State shutting down inside game
The Seminoles reeled off a 14-2 spurt after the Heels made the first two baskets of the game. FSU’s size has nullified the frontcourt advantage Carolina normally enjoys against most teams. The trio of Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot and Day’Ron Sharpe are scoreless and just a combined 0-for-2 from the field.
The Noles are currently on a 7-0 run and lead 23-14 with 7:23 left in the first half.
Starting lineups
North Carolina: Caleb Love, Kerwin Walton, Leaky Black, Garrison Brooks, Armando Bacot
Florida State: RayQuan Evans, RaiQuan Gray, M.J. Walker, Balsa Koprivica, Wyatt Wilkes
This story was originally published February 27, 2021 at 3:30 PM with the headline "900! Roy Williams gets milestone win as UNC comes back to beat No. 11 Florida State."