Streaking Tar Heels Visit Slumping Seminoles

James Michael McAdoo and the Tar Heels will look for a road win in Tallahassee on Monday.

Victorious in six straight, North Carolina makes the journey to Tallahassee, Fla., Monday night, looking to validate its NCAA tournament credentials with a win over Florida State.

Tip-off at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla., is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. ET.

After beginning the ACC campaign 0-3, North Carolina (17-7, 7-4 ACC) has won seven of its last eight, including the last six, to emerge as one of the hottest teams in the nation.

This purple patch has seen the Tar Heels climb into fourth place in the conference, behind Syracuse (25-0, 12-0 ACC), Virginia (21-5, 12-1 ACC) and Duke (20-5, 9-3 ACC). Perhaps more importantly, it has also seen Roy Williams’ side emerge as a NCAA tournament bubble team.

After last Wednesday’s game against Duke was postponed (until this Thursday), the Tar Heels picked up a much-needed marquee win on Saturday, grinding out a 75-71 victory over No. 25 Pittsburgh in Chapel Hill, N.C.

James Michael McAdoo had a huge game for the Tar Heels, collecting 24 points and 12 rebounds, seven of which came at the offensive end. The junior was forced to sit during what turned out to be a tense end to the game after fouling out.

Meanwhile, Marcus Paige – currently fifth in the ACC with 17.1 points per game – contributed 18 points after going 5-of-6 from behind the arc, while Brice Johnson added 13 points off the bench.

Now, a road win over the Seminoles on Monday will send a very distinctive message to the selection committee ahead of Thursday’s huge showdown with the Blue Devils.

Florida State (15-10, 6-7 ACC) has NCAA tournament hopes of its own though.

After starting the conference portion of the schedule 4-2, the Seminoles have dropped five of their last seven, but can still fight their way into contention for a trip to March Madness.

As well as Monday’s clash with North Carolina, Leonard Hamilton’s side still has games against Pittsburgh and Syracuse on the schedule, which means there’s still time to make the right kind of noise. A loss against the Tar Heels may change that.

The Seminoles earned a 67-60 road win over Wake Forest this past Saturday, snapping a two game losing streak.

Sophomore guard Aaron Thomas led the way with 19 points, 14 rebounds and four steals, while the Seminoles held the Demon Deacons to 30-of-53 (37.7%) shooting.

But Hilton and his side are aware that failure to win at home against North Carolina will mean the win over Wake Forest was for naught.

North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Florida State Seminoles odds for 02/17/2014

Florida State (-115) opened as a very narrow favorite over North Carolina (-105) when the moneyline was released earlier.

The Seminoles are 8-3 in Tallahassee this season, but just 3-3 since conference play began. The side has lost two of its last three at home.

The Tar Heels are 3-4 on the road this campaign, including 2-3 in ACC play. The side has won its last two road games, defeating Notre Dame and Georgia Tech.

North Carolina has won three straight against Florida State and 15 of the last 19 head-to-head meetings.

The spread opened at 1 in favor of Florida State (13-10-0 ATS) but some sportsbooks have already seen it switch in favor of North Carolina (13-11-0 ATS).

The Seminoles have gone 2-7-0 ATS in their last nine, while the Tar Heels have covered in their last six.

The Tar Heels have also covered the spread in three straight head-to-head meetings.

The over/under opened at 143.

North Carolina (13-11-0) has marginally favored the over while Florida State (8-15-0) has heavily favored the under.

The total has gone over in six of North Carolina’s last seven games in which bettors were able to bet the over/under, and under in four of Florida State’s last six.

The total has gone over in six of the last eight meetings between the two schools, including four of the last six they’ve played in Tallahassee.

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