After earning its first road victory of the season at Clemson on Monday, Florida State looks to make it two straight away from Tallahassee as the Seminoles invade Chapel Hill on Saturday to take on 15th-ranked North Carolina.
With four players averaging in double-figures scoring, North Carolina comes in ranking in the top 20 nationally in points, rebounds and assists-per-game. North Carolina enters the game with a 15-4 record, which includes a 5-1 mark in ACC play. The top Tar Heel again this season has been guard Marcus Paige, who leads the team averaging 13.5 points-per-game and better than four assists.
Paige will be a tough cover for the Seminoles, but on the defensive end, could be matched up with Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes. The redshirt freshman led Florida State with 17 points in Monday’s 59-55 victory and tied a career-high with 9 assists. Rathan-Mayes is scoring just shy of 13 points-per-game and ranks in the top 5 in the ACC with 4.7 assists per contest.
Junior Montay Brandon leads Florida State in both scoring and rebounding. Averaging 13.2 points and 5.6 rebounds, Brandon has been ridiculously efficient, shooting 57 percent from the field. He is also tied for the team lead in steals-per-game and leads the squad in minutes played.
Areas where FSU has struggled have been knocking down 3-pointers, defending inside and rebounding. Junior guard Devon Bookert, who averages 10.5 points-per-game, has made 29 of the Seminoles’ 70 triples this season.
On the interior, Florida State will have its hands full on Saturday against the likes of Kennedy Meeks, Brice Johnson and Justin Jackson. Meeks is shooting nearly 60 percent from the field while averaging nearly 13 points and better than eight rebounds. Meeks finished with 23 points in last season’s victory over the Seminoles in Tallahassee.
Johnson is averaging 11.7 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 54 percent from the field. Jackson, who can play inside or out, scores better than 10 points-per-game on just below 50 percent shooting. Junior J.P. Tokoto does just about everything for North Carolina, averaging more than nine points, five rebounds and four assists.
Florida State enters the Dean E. Smith Center on Saturday just 1-4 in true road games this season. The Seminoles are 10-9 for the year, 2-4 in ACC play and have won just once in Chapel Hill under Leonard Hamilton.
The Tar Heels downed the Seminoles 81-75 when the teams met last February in Tallahassee. In addition to Meeks’ 23 points, Paige recorded 20 points to go along with 7 assists while Ian Miller paced FSU with 22 points. FSU has lost four straight to the Tar Heels.
Saturday’s contest in Chapel Hill will tip off after 2:00 P.M. eastern time and will air nationally on ESPN.
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