Even with Rathan-Mayes burning up the nets, the Heels never lost the lead and seemed to always have the game in hand. Marcus Paige poured in 19 points and Justin Jackson added 14, as the Heels went to 10-0 when Jackson scores in double-digits. However, it was the dominance downlow, once again, that enabled Carolina to take control. Johnson has been on quite a roll, lately. His 7 of 9 shooting display coupled with his 8 of 11 tally against Wake Forest puts him at 15 for 20 from the field in his last two games. That type of efficient scoring has powered the Heels to superb shooting percentages around the rim and has led the Heels to an overpowering advantage in points in the paint. With a 42-24 edge in that category versus FSU, Carolina has now garnered a 92-50 margin of supremacy of points in the paint over its last two games. Brice took a hard spill early in the first half that had everyone gasping for a second, but he bounced right back up and his game flourished from that moment.
"I'm proud of Brice," said Coach Roy Williams. "Brice's back was bothering him during warm-ups; I told him I wish it was bothering him during warm ups all the time if his is going to get 18 and 14, but I was worried about him."
And, the UNC coaching staff, has enough to worry about when it comes to injuries. Playing without Theo Pinson (broken left foot), Joel Berry II (groin injury), and three other backcourt players, Carolina was running very thin on the bench. Add in an in-game knee injury to Joel James, and the Heels were depleted at best. But, Nate Britt turned in solid minutes with 4 points and 3 rebounds in a game where he played with 15 stitches inside his upper lip.
"I was really pleased. He (Britt) showed some toughness today and he's a tough kid," Coach Williams added. "I am very proud of him and he gave us some great minutes."
Paige was extremely active all game long, knocking down a couple of threes and, more effectively, driving to the rim and making the backdoor cuts that caught FSU defenders off-guard. He and Brice set the tone for the Heels and served as the catalysts behind the "W".
The Tar Heels took much better care of the ball, only turning it over five times against the 'Noles. That has been a point of emphasis for Coach Williams and his staff, so the Heels come away happy about that. Forcing 10 turnovers and scoring 13 points off those turnovers is a key indication of the defensive savvy Carolina was exhibiting. Kennedy Meeks and J.P. Tokoto were solid contributors for Carolina as Meeks scored 12 points and snagged seven rebounds. Tokoto was all over the court, defending, shooting the rock, making the spectacular play as we have come accustomed to seeing. There was one defensive play where the Heels had just had a bad offensive possession and FSU got out on the break. Tokoto sprinted back down the court on defense and almost jumped out of the building, swatting the opponent's layup attempt with his off-hand (left).
Tokoto's ability to affect a game on both the defensive and offensive ends of the court has brought quite a versatile ingredient to this Carolina team and it is paying off in the recent winning streak. J.P. is one of those players that you like seeing on the floor as much as possible. He caused havoc for most of the Florida State shooters all game long and it was only Rathan-Mayes that would defy any defensive effort with his splendid offensive display.
Devon Bookert scored 11 points for the Seminoles but there was really no offensive production to speak of except from the talented freshman Rathan-Mayes. Rathan-Mayes shot 14 of 26 from the field including 5 of 11 from long distance. He just could not miss. Carolina had pushed the lead to double digits with just over a minutes to play when Rathan-Mayes put the Seminoles on his back and began to drain threes. He hit three 3's in the last 36 seconds to make the game much closer than it was and give the Carolina Faithful in the Smith Center a chance to "Oooooh and Ahhhhh" towards the end.
"(Xavier) Rathan-Mayes, we held him scoreless without a field goal for about four or five minutes, but all of a sudden in the last 30 seconds he made three or four of them in a row," said Williams. "He was a difficult guy to guard."
FSU Head Coach Leonard Hamilton spoke about Rathan-Mayes play versus Carolina and what it meant for the Seminoles. "He just sensed that he needed to step up because we were stuttering there. He just took advantage of what the offense gave us." Hamilton continued, "X is still a guy that his future is bright. I think he's learning. Today's just one of the days that I think it all came together for him. We really needed every one of his points just to stay close."
It just wasn't enough to spring the upset against the Heels in Chapel Hill. Carolina's power and domination of the paint proved too much to overcome for the Seminoles and Johnson's strong shooting performance and effectiveness around the rim continues to pay dividends for UNC.
The Tar Heels enter an extremely important and difficult stretch of games over the course of the next week. There is not much rest for the weary as UNC will host Syracuse on Monday evening, which is a quick-turnaround for the banged-up Carolina squad. After that comes a trip to #10 Louisville where the Cardinals will be looking to extract some revenge of their loss to UNC earlier this month. Then, the Heels fall into another quick-turnaround with a Big Monday game at home versus the undefeated, #2 Virginia Cavaliers the night after the Super Bowl. At this point in the ACC schedule, and sitting third in the conference, one would think that Carolina needs to win 2 out these 3 games to have a chance at taking the ACC Regular Season title.
There's a long ways to go, folks. So, buckle in for the ride. Things are about to get bumpy, but Carolina has grown as a team and shown its ability to build resiliency and toughness along the way.
Coach Williams touched on this by saying, "We've got 11 more ACC games this season, and if you're not going to grind it out in this league, you're going to get your tail beat. But I have been impressed, they (his Heels) don't jabber at each other when somebody makes mistakes, they stick their hand back and say alright let's go, pick him up and at the same time, we keep trying."
Next Game: #15 North Carolina (16-4, 6-1 ACC)
vs
Syracuse Orange (14-6, 5-2 ACC)
Date/Time: Monday, January 26, 2015 @ 7:00pm EST
Location: Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC
TV/Radio: ESPN or ESPN3 / Tar Heel Sports Network
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