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No. 11 North Carolina halts FSU's 12-game streak

By The Sports Xchange

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- North Carolina used a few lineup combinations that coach Roy Williams never envisioned Saturday afternoon.

He liked how those turned out as the No. 11 Tar Heels defeated No. 9 Florida State 96-83 at the Smith Center.

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"Some weird lineups out there," Williams said. "First time in 29 years as a coach I've ever had five guys out there with no post player."

Against the bigger Seminoles, the Tar Heels went smaller at times and that proved to be fine because of relentless rebounding.

Joel Berry scored 17 of his 26 points in the first half as North Carolina withstood several threats from Florida State.

Isaiah Hicks and Justin Jackson scored 22 points each for the Tar Heels (16-3, 4-1 ACC). Theo Pinson, in his third game of the season, added 12 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

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"I really have to be aggressive, go hard," Hicks said.

Dwayne Bacon's 18 points and Jonathan Isaac's 17 points paced the Seminoles (16-2, 4-1), though their school-record 12-game winning streak came to an end. P.J. Savoy and Terance Mann both had 10 points.

North Carolina held a 56-34 rebounding edge, buoyed by sophomore reserve Luke Maye's career-high 15.

"I thought they were a more aggressive than we were," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "They really, really showed up big on the boards. They had 21 offensive rebounds, but that means we initially did a pretty good job of getting the stops."

In a game with mounting foul trouble on both sides, there were a combined 63 free throws attempted (none in the final minute). Florida State shot 12 of 26 on foul shots.

"Anytime you shoot as poorly as we did from the free-throw line, it makes it very challenging," Hamilton said.

Florida State, which is the only ACC team shooting better than 50 percent from the field, committed 11 of its 15 turnovers before halftime. The Seminoles shot 44.4 percent for the game.

After Florida State appeared on the verge of rubbing out a nine-point deficit in the second half, Jackson scored the next seven points for the Tar Heels' largest lead to that juncture at 66-56.

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Jackson's next 3 made it 69-58 and the Tar Heels were en route to their fourth victory in a row.

"I feel really good about a win against a really, really good team," Williams said. "The first half, we were in the game because of our offensive rebounding. That was about it.

"We made some shots (in the second half). I've said it a hundred times, everything looks better when the ball goes in the basket."

Isaac's four-point play helped Florida State stay within range before three North Carolina dunks during a late 8-2 spurt enabled the Tar Heels to pull away.

North Carolina led 50-41 at halftime on Berry's third 3-pointer of the half.

"I thought North Carolina came out very energized," Hamilton said. "I thought Hicks was very aggressive at the end of the game, kind of put us back on our heels a little bit."

Earlier, the Tar Heels were up 14-5 and 22-13, but Florida State pulled even at 25-25. The Seminoles had their first lead on Bacon's three-point play at the 7:38 mark.

Fouls mounted on North Carolina's diminished front line, with Hicks and Kennedy Meeks both saddled with two fouls with more than seven minutes to play in the first half.

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The Seminoles made only 6 of 14 first-half free throws. Florida State was saved, in part, by a 16-5 edge in scoring by reserves in the first half.

North Carolina played without freshman reserve center Tony Bradley, the team's second-leading rebounder, as he recovers from a concussion sustained Wednesday night at Wake Forest.

NOTES: Florida State entered the game with a 4-0 ACC record for the first time in 26 years of league competition. ... This was Florida State's fourth consecutive game against a nationally ranked opponent, with the next two also likely against Top 25 foes. ... With Roy Williams as the North Carolina coach, this was the 17th time when an opponent arrived at the Smith Center with a higher ranking than the Tar Heels. ... North Carolina has won seven in a row in the series with Florida State. ... North Carolina is back in action Monday night at home against Syracuse in the first meeting since last season's Final Four semifinals. ... Florida State is home Wednesday night against Notre Dame.

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