North Carolina will step away from the Smith Center today for the first time in 42 days when it plays its ACC road opener.
The Tar Heels will play Florida State at 2 p.m. in Tallahassee at the Tucker Center. North Carolina last played a road game on Dec. 3, when it lost 73-72 at Kentucky, and it will be playing only its third true road game of the season.
After playing the past nine games at home, coach Roy Williams of North Carolina said he can't be sure how his players will respond to a hostile crowd and travel demands.
"I don't know really what to expect," Williams said in Chapel Hill on Friday. "I don't expect a lot of change.
"It's not like this is the first time we've played on the road.
"In my opinion, I think probably we may have gotten more complacent here, so I'm hoping that we'll have a better attention span or maybe a higher level of attention to what we had here."
North Carolina is 15-2 overall and 2-0 in the ACC and is on a nine-game winning streak. Florida State is 10-6 and 1-1.
Williams and forward Harrison Barnes said they are confident that the Tar Heels improved during the long homestand; eight of the games were won by at least 15 points, and four had margins of at least 37 points.
Williams said he thought North Carolina's defense improved over the stretch. He said he was also pleased by more effective rebounding and more balanced scoring.
"As a team, we definitely used those experiences to get better," Barnes said. "We had some good challenges against Texas and Boston College, and most recently Miami.
"So we'll use those experiences to prepare to go on the road again."
The Tar Heels have won their past five games at Tucker, but one game was decided by one point, another by two and a third by three. A fourth game went into overtime before the Tar Heels won by 11.
The Seminoles are playing their usual tough defense under coach Leonard Hamilton. They are allowing only 36 percent shooting from the field, and 26.8 percent shooting on 3-point attempts. They are averaging almost six rebounds a game more than their opponents and giving up an average of 61.7 points.
The difference between this Florida State team and its recent predecessors is that it often struggles on offense. The Seminoles scored 10 points in the first half of a 75-73 loss in three overtimes to Princeton.
Clemson handed Florida State a 79-59 loss in their ACC opener at Clemson, but the Seminoles bounced back to win 63-59 at Virginia Tech.
North Carolina guard Dexter Strickland and reserve forward Desmond Hubert sprained ankles Wednesday on the team's day off. Neither practiced Thursday, and Williams was unsure early Friday afternoon how effective either might be today.
"I've got a unique team," Williams said with a smile. "It's the first time in 24 years as a head coach I got two guys hurt on an off day. Classes are tough around here."
Strickland and Hubert were working on their own at the Smith Center when each stepped on the foot of another player.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement