CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The Florida State basketball team began ACC play with a tough opener — perhaps the toughest opener a team can face — when the Seminoles traveled to take on No. 12 North Carolina.
FSU has struggled mightily in many facets of the game, but they held their own against a good North Carolina team with a future NBA lottery pick in Caleb Wilson.
The Seminoles fell 79-66 against the Tar Heels but they played with intensity and were able to knock down open shots at a higher clip than they have been lately.
“If we play as hard as we play tonight, we’re going to win a lot of games in the ACC,” FSU coach Luke Loucks said. “We’ve got another game against Duke coming up that’s similar to UNC, but we’re not going to face 18 Dukes and UNCs.”
The Seminoles (7-7) will also not run into many Caleb Wilsons. The talented freshman UNC forward gave Florida State fits all night and simply did not have a player or answer for Wilson. The Atlanta native poured in 22 points and grabbed 16 rebounds, to go along with six assists.
“His presence around the rim, you cannot replicate,” Loucks said. "We tried to do a good job with our game plan in terms of our switching in front of the post, but he’s absolutely relentless on the boards. He has size, length, athleticism so kudos to Hubert (Davis) and his staff for bringing a guy like Caleb in that is your prototypical UNC pro that’s going to go make a ton of money playing basketball.”
UNC (13-1) is simply more talented than the Seminoles at this point. Although FSU did get some decent contributions given the circumstances of playing one of the top teams in the country on the road.
Senior forward Chauncey Wiggins led the Seminoles with 16 points, added 10 rebounds and recorded a block. Senior guard Kobe MaGee had four 3-pointers to finish with 12 on the night, while senior point guard Robert McCray IV had an impressive stat line with 11 points, eight assists, six rebounds and one steal.
The only thing that wasn’t impressive about McCray’s stat line was the seven turnovers. McCray had some impressive plays on the night to include a rim-rocking dunk in the first half.
“The ball is in Rob’s hands so much and when you’re a high frequency attack guard, you’re going to have some turnovers,” Loucks said.
Despite the turnovers and the loss to the Tar Heels, the Seminoles are improving and the shots are starting to fall with more frequency. There is no hesitation by MaGee, Wiggins and McCray IV when lining up a shot.
The Seminoles are still new and getting to know each other, while Loucks is a first-time college head coach who is still figuring it out when it comes to his coaching style and philosophy.
“We have to keep our foot on the gas,” Loucks said. "We have to trust that open shots are eventually going to fall. We created some great looks that went halfway down the net, and they pop back out. At some point, I’m hopeful and I have full faith that those balls are going to stay down in the net and once that happens, the flood gates are going to open for us.”
Up next
The Seminoles return home on Saturday when they welcome No. 6 Duke to the Donald L. Tucker Center for a 3:45 p.m. tipoff.
