Inside the box score: UNC 106, FSU 90

1. The loss to North Carolina dropped FSU's record to 10-4 (0-2). Prior to the game Joe Lunardi had Florida State as a 9-seed, and following the game SB Nation had FSU as one of the first four out. Unfortunately the schedule doesn't do any favors as the next four games are at Miami (No. 12 per kenpom.com), at NCSU (77), vs UVA (4), and at Louisville (5). The final 12 ACC games are a much easier row to hoe, but FSU probably needs to get through the first six at at least 2-4 to be in okay shape.

2. UNC grabbed 18 offensive boards, which was an unhealthy 45% of their own misses. But they do this to everyone, and have grabbed 39% on the season. Much of the focus has been on the lack of rebounding by FSU's bigs (injured and otherwise), though I don't see it that way. The problem was that FSU's perimeter could not contain UNC's guards. When the perimeter breaks down, it is Boris Bojanovsky's job (or whoever is in the middle) to stop that penetration well away from the basket. This pulls them away from their man, who is now in perfect position to rebound on the weak side. Other players have to rotate down and minimize that threat, and that did not happen. Coach Roy Williams summed it up nicely, saying, "...they also pressure you and it opens up for drives more and when you drive it breaks down the box out and if you miss the shots then Brice is there to get the rebounds and if you have five seven footers and you’re able to drive it still breaks down the box outs."

The good news is that much of the complaining is due to recency bias, as FSU just got hammered on the boards in back-to-back games. The reality is that Florida State is No. 62 nationally in defensive rebounding, which is easily the best in Ham's tenure. When it comes to the defense, fans should be far more concerned with FSU's defensive 2-pt% (179th), and their inability to block shots (143rd), two areas where Ham's defenses are traditionally strong.

3. Florida State made 10-20 3s vs UNC, and seem to have broken out of their shooting funk. In the past three games FSU is now 29-68 (43%) from deep, after making just 30% earlier in the year.

4. Since I constantly rag on the students for not showing up to games, I will now give them props for last night. The fans in the expensive seats? That's another story. The students now have eight more free ACC games to attend, and hopefully last night will be the norm rather than the exception.

5. FSU lost 106-90, in an 88 possession game. It was not only the highest possession game in Ham's tenure (breaking the previous record of 87 possessions vs Savannah State in 2004), but it was also the highest possession game for the Tar Heels since another 88 possession game in 2012. FSU is now the 21st most uptempo team in the nation, 1st in the ACC, and 3rd among high major schools.