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North Carolina

Florida State upsets North Carolina, 73-70

By Guy Curtright

Mar 14, 2009

Atlanta — Ty Lawson probably couldn’t have played in the ACC Tournament championship game, but it doesn’t matter now anyway.

North Carolina’s No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament is still secure, but the Tar Heels won’t be playing for a third consecutive ACC title on Sunday.

Toney Douglas, who is from nearby Jonesboro and has a brother who plays for Atlanta Falcons at the same Georgia Dome, saw to that.

“They made the NFL playoffs and we’re in the ACC championship,” said the Florida State star, whose brother Harry was in the crowd. “I was excited for him and I know he’s excited for me. This place has been good to both of us.”

Douglas scored 27 and put No. 22-ranked FSU ahead on a pair of free throws with 47.2 seconds left as the Seminoles advanced to their first ACC title game with a 73-70 victory over the No. 1-ranked Tar Heels.

The loss snapped a seven-game ACC Tournament winning streak by North Carolina and ended a run of 10 straight victories by the Tar Heels over FSU.

North Carolina (28-4) won at Tallahassee in January on a 3-pointer at the buzzer by Lawson, who had 20 points, a career-high nine rebounds and four assists. But the ACC player of the year couldn’t play against the Seminoles this time because of a jammed big toe and FSU took advantage of the point guard’s absence.

After Douglas, who lost out to Lawson for ACC player of the year, made his two foul shots, Derwin Kitchen made two more with 15.7 seconds left and UNC missed two 3-point shots in the closing seconds.

“We had been waiting for a chance to get back at them,” Kitchen said. “I can’t really tell you just how good this feels. We beat the No. 1 team and now we get to play for the ACC championship.”

Kitchen, a junior college transfer, had 11 points, nine rebounds, six assists and three steals. The biggest of the steals came in the final minute as he knocked the ball away from Tyler Hansbrough in the lane.

Hansbrough had 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Wayne Ellington scored 24. But they couldn’t do it alone.

Bobby Frasor, filling in for Lawson at point guard, had only two points and the Tar Heels shot just 37.3 percent. Danny Green was 1-for-12, missing five 3-point attempts.

“We didn’t play up to our standards,” Frasor said. “We didn’t play the way we want to play. We didn’t get contributions from everyone.”

“Everybody had to raise their game to another level and everyone had to step up their leadership a little bit,” said Green, stopping before uttering the obvious. Against FSU, the Tar Heels didn’t.

It was a different story for the Seminoles, who lost to UNC in their only other trip to the ACC semifinals in 1992 – their first season in the conference.

FSU (25-8) shot 66.7 percent in the second half, going 6-for-11 from behind the 3-point arc. Douglas had three 3-pointers in the game, but so did freshman reserve Deividas Dulkys.

The Seminoles also used their size inside to their advantage winning the rebound battle and blocking six shots.

Hansbrough needed 25 points to break former Duke guard J.J. Redick’s ACC record for career points, so he’ll have to do it in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. He did set the UNC record for career rebounds, passing Sam Perkins.

Tar Heels coach Roy Williams has taken five teams to the NCAA Final Four that didn’t win conference championships. After the loss to FSU, he’ll have to try to do it again -- hopefully with a healthy Lawson.

“There’s no tomorrow now,” Williams said. “The next time you feel this way at the end of a game, you’re done [for the season].”