North Carolina @ Florida State preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 23, 2019 ) Florida State 59, North Carolina 77

After their 10-game winning streak came to a screeching halt on Jan. 28, sixth-ranked Florida State rebounded with a resounding 74-63 victory at Virginia Tech last time out behind a record-setting performance from Devin Vassell. Next up Monday at home is a North Carolina team that came up one-point short (71-70) against visiting Boston College Saturday to spoil the return of star freshman Cole Anthony (knee).

"We're going to regroup," Anthony told reporters after his first game in more than seven weeks. "We can obviously get better as a team, as a unit, and just stick together. … It was a little deflating to lose the game like that at home, but there's a lot of basketball left to be played. Our season is not over. We're going to regroup and get better - we're going to learn from this." Anthony hit 5-of-14 shots for 26 points to lead all scorers against the Eagles but, with just two practices under his belt before rejoining the lineup, the Tar Heels were a little out of sync - something that is expected to improve with time. Florida State's return to the win column was powered by Vassell, who was on fire all game while tying an ACC mark by hitting 7-of-7 from 3-point range (he shares the record for 3-point percentage in a game, minimum of seven, with three other players) to finish with 27 points and he ended up as the only Seminole in double figures. “We had a lot of guys contribute a little bit,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton told reporters. “That's kind of who we are. We win games by committee. I thought that really made a difference. We had everyone basically contributing in some kind of way, and Devin just happened to be our lead dog tonight. It's been that way all year. It always seems to be somebody else stepping up. That's who we are as a team.”

TIME: 7 p.m. ET. TV: ESPN

ABOUT NORTH CAROLINA (10-11, 3-7 ACC): While Anthony came up big against Boston College, Brandon Robinson only totaled 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting before leaving with an ankle injury (X-rays were negative) with 17 seconds left in the game. Garrison Brooks only scored 10 points in the loss after missing all seven of his free throws, but he ended up with his eighth double-double in the last nine games thanks to pulling down 10 boards. North Carolina hit just 22-of-61 shots (36.1 percent) - 21.1 percent from long distance - far below the 54 percent they averaged in the two prior games when they went 2-0.

ABOUT FLORIDA STATE (18-3, 8-2): With his record performance against Virginia Tech, Vassell has now reached double digits for scoring in eight straight games - averaging 17.6 points during that span. While Vassell was the only player in double figures in the win, five others scored at least seven points, including RaiQuan Gray and Trent Forrest, and 10 players in all posted at least one point. The Seminoles are knocking down 77.9 percent of their free throws in the last seven games and they top the ACC in free-throw shooting percentage (76.5 percent).

BUZZER BEATERS

1. North Carolina leads the series 50-13 after defeating Florida State 77-59 last February.

2. The Tar Heels went 4-7 overall and 2-5 in the ACC without Anthony.

3. The Seminoles have won 18 straight games on their home court - the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla.

PREDICTION: Florida State 77, North Carolina 75