January 22, 2006

Ira Schoffel, The Osceola
Warchant.com

Box score ** Video highlights

Florida State tried to take a page from the playbooks of Miami and Virginia -- teams that stymied North Carolina by collapsing around star forward Tyler Hansbrough and forcing the Tar Heels' young guards to beat them from the perimeter.

But this time, Roy Williams and the Tar Heels flipped the script.

In search of a true outside scoring threat, Williams gave junior guard Wes Miller his first career start Sunday night against the Seminoles, and Miller delivered in a big way. He scored 18 points -- on a career-high six 3-pointers -- to help No. 24 Carolina secure an 81-80 victory before a crowd of 11,589.

"We knew he was a good shooter," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We didn't know he was going to be shooting from the parking lot. Every time we lost him, he made us pay."

Miller's final two long-range baskets came from well beyond the 3-point line, and each time he gave North Carolina scoring leads in a frantic stretch run. The Seminoles (11-4, 2-3 in the ACC) and Tar Heels (11-4, 2-3) exchanged the lead six times in the final 3:38.

Junior forward Reyshawn Terry put North Carolina ahead for good by connecting on both ends of a one-and-one free-throw opportunity with 23 seconds remaining.

After calling a timeout to set up their final play, the Seminoles failed to get off a decent shot at the basket - guard Isaiah Swann's entry pass to forward Alexander Johnson was batted away by Hansbrough, and forward Al Thornton's desperation 3-pointer fell harmlessly to the ground as time expired.

"We ran the play that we wanted, we just didn't execute it as well as we wanted," Hamilton said.

Miller, who started his career at James Madison before transferring to North Carolina two years ago, led an unlikely perimeter barrage for Carolina. With Florida State's defense collapsing around leading scorer Hansbrough, the Tar Heels' guards connected on 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) attempts from long range.

In their past two games - losses to Virginia and Miami -- Carolina was successful on just 16-of-51 (31.4 percent) from that distance.

"You're going to have more open shots when they give a guy that kind of defensive emphasis," Williams said. "The bottom line is it was a day when our shots went in, and the other night they didn't."

Carolina shot a season-best 55.6 percent from the field and set another season high with 13 3-pointers.

The Tar Heels, who are ranked No. 24 in the Associated Press poll, needed that sharp shooting after falling behind midway through the first half. UNC trailed by as many as 12 points before cutting the Seminoles' lead to eight at halftime.

UNC also dominated the glass in the second half to erase that deficit. After grabbing just three offensive rebounds in the first half, Carolina went to work on the boards after halftime - the Heels out-rebounded Florida State 19-10 in the second period.

Terry grabbed eight rebounds to go with his 17 points, and Hansbrough finished with 15 points and seven boards.

"I thought we were really good in the second half," Williams said. "This was a big-time win for us to say the least."

Swann, who led the Seminoles with 17 points in the first half, finished with 19. Thornton also scored 19, and Johnson finished with 17.

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