Jan. 6, 2007

By Lauren Brownlow

The Basics

The No. 2 Tar Heels (13-1) are coming off a 10-game win streak and will open the ACC schedule on Sunday. Florida State (12-3, 0-1) is coming off a narrow 68-66 loss at home to undefeated Clemson. Carolina will be the third top-10 opponent that Florida State has faced this season; the Seminoles are 2-1 against such opponents. The Seminoles defeated No. 4 Florida on their way to begin a streak of eight wins in their last nine games. As of Saturday morning, limited tickets (mostly singles) were still available.

Game Time: Florida State at North Carolina, 7 p.m.

Last Time: Reyshawn Terry hit two free throws with 23 seconds left to seal an 81-80 victory in Tallahassee on January 22, 2006. Terry was one of five Tar Heels to score in double figures with 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Wes Miller set a career high with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the three-point line. Tyler Hansbrough added 15 points and seven rebounds, and Danny Green shot 3-of-3 from the three-point line on his way to 11 points. Byron Sanders added ten points on a day where he was perfect from the floor (4-of-4) and the free-throw line (2-of-2).

Al Thornton and Isaiah Swann paced the Seminoles with 19 points apiece. Alexander Johnson added 17 and Jason Rich had 12.

Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 6 p.m.

Injury Report: Quentin Thomas went out for 2-4 weeks following Gonzaga with a stress fracture in his foot, and Bobby Frasor was bothered this season by a sore foot, but both are expected to play. Ty Lawson went down hard against Dayton and has had a sore wrist ever since, and he has been limited in practice but is expected to play.

Storylines

Matchup problems: The 6-8 Al Thornton and 6-9 Uche Echefu make up the Florida State starting front line, and between them they have shot 17-of-53 from the three-point line (9-of-26 for Echefu, 8-of-27 for Thornton).

"I've been with Coach Smith's teaching; I've been one of those guys that I want to be concerned about us and not as concerned about who the other team has or what they're doing," Roy Williams said. "If that were the case, this year I wouldn't have started two big guys every game. We've played 14 games, and I would say 12 of them have been a bad matchup for a big four-man. But I'm looking down the road and trying to be the best team we can be later on, so I'm going to stick with what we do.

"We've got the worst matchups this weekend we could ever have. Uche (Echefu) and (Al) Thornton, they're basically perimeter players and that's their four-and-five men. That's a huge matchup problem for us, but that doesn't mean that I'm going to play five perimeter guys because that's not the matchups in the world for them in the world on the other end, either."

The Seminoles, like the Tar Heels, have a lot of depth in that they have nine players in double-figure minutes. The Tar Heels currently have ten players in double-figure minutes.

Florida State is a quick, defensive-minded team that ranks third in the league in steals (9.47 a game) while sitting at last in rebounding margin (dead even at 474 rebounds pulled down to 474 rebounds allowed). In contrast, the Tar Heels, who have a lot more height and play more on the blocks, lead the league in rebounding margin with +11.2. Despite ranking last in assist-turnover ratio (190 assists to 241 turnovers, or 0.70) in the ACC, the Seminoles rank third in the conference in turnover margin (just in front of Carolina). The Seminoles are averaging 16.1 turnovers a game to just 14.2 for the Tar Heels, but they are forcing 19.6 compared to just 17.6 being forced by the Tar Heels. Carolina ranks first in assist-turnover ratio, with 288 assists to 199 turnovers (1.45).

To compensate for the quickness of the Seminoles, the Tar Heel point guards need to play well and under control. It is not yet known how much Ty Lawson will play because of his wrist, so Bobby Frasor and Quentin Thomas may have to pick up much of the slack in just their second game back. Against Penn, Frasor and Thomas combined for six assists (four for Thomas, two for Frasor) and zero turnovers in just 13 minutes.

Getting off to a quick start: The Tar Heels struggled coming out of the gate against Penn on Wednesday, allowing Penn to take a quick 5-0 lead on a three-pointer and a backdoor lay-up within the first minute of play. Despite some quick points from Terry and Hansbrough, the Tar Heels were not able to keep the Quakers off the glass or prevent them from backdoor cutting to the basket. Penn took a 13-6 lead four minutes into the game and Deon Thompson responded with a basket to make it 13-8. Then, after a poorly-guarded inbounds play allowed an easy two for Penn to take a 15-8 lead with 14:35 left in the first half, Roy Williams had had enough and pulled his starters.

"The first couple of minutes needless to say I was not pleased. Everything that we said in the scouting report they did, and our guys stood out there looking like they never heard anything about it whatsoever," Coach Williams said.

Though it took a few minutes, the new five players sparked Carolina on both sides of the ball as Bobby Frasor scored five points in 40 seconds to bring the Tar Heel bench - and the crowd - to its feet and the score to an 18-11 Penn lead. No knees went un-reddened and no loose ball went untouched. After Marcus Ginyard corralled a steal to find Stepheson on the break for a dunk to bring the Tar Heels within three, Williams felt he had made his point.

"We pretty much know when we're going to come out when we're making bad decisions and mistakes like that, one after another," Terry said of being pulled out of the game in the first half. "Just to know that those guys are coming in, it's bad, but at the same time it's time for us to get our thoughts and our heads together and realize we can't take things for granted when we're out there."

At the 11:17 mark, the starters came back in and Reyshawn Terry scored quickly, followed by a Lawson steal and lay-up to give Carolina its first lead. The Tar Heels made some mistakes after that, but they had the game relatively well in hand.

However, this team cannot afford that luxury against a team like Florida State, or any ACC team for that matter. A sluggish start in ACC play could spell disaster for this young squad very quickly. Williams and the upperclassmen have done their best to get the freshmen to heed their warnings about the jump in intensity that ACC play brings.

"The freshmen, they have no idea," Williams said. "It's just like we prepared for Penn, for the backdoors and things like that, but until you actually go through it, you have no idea what the old gray-haired fellow's talking about. We'll get hit right between the eyes, and just however we respond to that on Sunday."

At The Game

Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency in the Smith Center will be FM 92.7. That station will have a non-delayed feed of WCHL 1360, the local affiliate.

Watching At Home

Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.

A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.

ESPN coverage: The game will be available on ESPN.

Names To Know

Tyler Hansbrough: To say Tyler Hansbrough had a "quiet" 19 points sounds foolish, but it seemed that way. But Hansbrough simply outworked everyone else on the court. Hansbrough was just 3-of-9 in the first half from the floor but was 4-of-4 from the free-throw line for a team-leading 10 points. He shot 3-of-4 from the floor and 3-of-6 from the line for another nine points in the second half to tack on another 10 points, and added three assists and four steals.

Hansbrough ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 18.1 points a game, fifth in rebounding with 7.4 a game, sixth in field goal percentage (88 of 165) at 53.3%, and third in offensive rebounds with 3.29 a game. He has shown off his ability to pass out of the double team in the last two games, as he found Wayne Ellington against Penn for one of his four three-pointers, and he continues to run the floor well on the break, nabbing a steal and dribbling the length of the court to find Deon Thompson for a lay-up.

Though not known especially for his defense, Hansbrough has graded out as the best defender in a game twice already this season - once against Winthrop and most recently against Dayton. What makes it even more remarkable is that the Dayton game was one of the most physical to date, and as usual Hansbrough took the brunt of the punishment, scoring 17 points but managing to only pull down three rebounds. Yet he was able to bounce back on the defensive end and play well enough to earn the defensive player of the game.

"I think it was very physical. Once again, as I say I'm used to that, but at the same time, I do get frustrated, just like everybody else," Tyler Hansbrough said.

Wayne Ellington: After the coaches watched tape of the Penn game on Wednesday, Wayne Ellington graded out as the best defender on the day, marking the first time he has achieved that distinction all season. After the Dayton game, Williams said Ellington was developing faster on the defensive end of the floor than any of the other freshmen.

Ellington does not always get the steals, but he has had countless deflections as he is one of the best and quickest Tar Heels at darting out into the passing lanes. Ellington grabbed two steals against Penn, his most since December 9th. But as usual, it was Ellington's sweet jumper that aided him on his way to 17 points. After missing his first two shots, Ellington made a three-pointer, converted a three-point play and made yet another three-pointer in a little over two minutes in the first half of Wednesday's game. He finished the half with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting and 2-of-3 from the three-point line.

"Individually, I'm just going to go through the offense and do what we do," Ellington said "Nothing's going to change; we're just going to do what we do. We have so many options on the offensive end that I'm not really concerned with myself. I'll just get my shots in the flow of the game."

In the second half, the Pennsylvania freshman scored eight points in about four minutes, including two three-pointers. At that point, he was 4-of-5 from the three point line and had 17 points. He would not score again and ended the game at 6-of-13 and 4-of-8 from the three-point line.

Ellington ranks 22nd in the league in scoring with 13.2 points a game and fourth in three-pointers made with 2.29 a game. He is shooting 45.1% from the three-point line and 49.3% from the floor. In the last five games, Ellington has shot better from the three-point line (57.7%) than from the field (48.9%). Ellington has shot under 42.9% from the field just twice this season - Gonzaga (2-of-11 for 18.2%) and St. Louis (1-of-7 for 14.3%). The Tar Heels will need Ellington's smooth outside stroke in ACC play to ensure that things open up in the paint for Tyler Hansbrough and Brandan Wright.

"With Wayne, it makes it hard for them to push back and put a lot of people in the post when we have outside shooters like that," Hansbrough said.

Al Thornton: The senior Thornton is widely regarded as one of the best players in the conference, and he has lived up the billing this season. He ranks 10th in the league in scoring with 16.3 points a game, fifth in field goal percentage (54.4%), and is seventh in free-throw percentage (81.3%). Of the 10 players in that category, Thornton is one of only two to have attempted 80 or more free throws. Thornton is also tied for ninth in the league in steals with 1.73 a game.

Thornton scored 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting against the Tar Heels last season and missed a desperation shot at the buzzer that would have won the game for the Seminoles. In the Seminoles' narrow loss to Clemson on Wednesday, Thornton scored 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting and 5-of-7 from the free throw line and added

The 6-8 Thornton plays largely on the perimeter, and has attempted 27 three-pointers on the season. He will present a lot of matchup problems for this team.

Isaiah Swann: Swann had 19 points last year (17 in the first half) against the Tar Heels on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from the three-point line. Swann also added five assists, four steals and two turnovers. He leads the team in assists with 49 (3.3 a game), and his assist-turnover ratio of 1.5 also leads the team. In fact, only one other Seminole has a positive (greater than 1) assist-to-turnover ratio. He ranks seventh in the conference and leads his team in steals with 1.93 a game.

"Isaiah Swann, I loved watching him in high school, just a tough nut, very athletic, could take the ball without you even knowing he'd already taken it," Roy Williams said.

The 6-1 junior is a savvy veteran and can also shoot well. He is averaging 8.4 points a game and is shooting 48-of-110 (43.6%) on the season from the field and 20-of-60 (33.3%) from the three-point line. His 60 attempts lead the team. On a team that struggles to rebound, he has pulled down 50 rebounds (3.3 a game) and ranks fourth on the team. Against Clemson on Wednesday, Swann was the second-leading scorer on his team with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-6 from the three-point line. Swann added five assists, two steals, one block and three turnovers.

Quotables

"He (Coach Smith) says I need to start putting better. I've always felt like I was the best putter in the world, and I putted like Ben Wallace shoots free throws. I always thought I could putt better than most of the pros. So he decided to get me a new putter." -Roy Williams

"Bojangles is going to be fired up tomorrow morning. In some ways that makes you cringe because of that because you feel for the other guy, but at the same time it's part of college athletics. I love the enthusiasm. If it takes biscuits to make everybody stay in their seats until the very end I guess that's okay." -Roy Williams

"Don't listen to Tywon. He's just trying to get you guys (the media) to have something to do. He doesn't know what day it is. Somebody said something about he didn't know Bobby and Q (were coming back) - I told him. I mean, gosh darn. Be nice to the little fellow, I love him to death, but he thinks the sky is going to fall tomorrow." -Roy Williams

"Brandan (Wright) can handle the ball, but if Brandan jumps out and shoots a three, then I'm going to be stunned. If it's his second three, then he's going to be with me." -Roy Williams

"He (Bobby Frasor) had a sore foot, and everybody's trying to see if he had pleurisy or something." -Roy Williams

Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.