Gameday Preview: North Carolina Travels To Tallahassee To Take On Florida State 

February 24 , 2025 

Tallahassee, Florida- The North Carolina Tar Heels (17-11, 10-6 ACC) travel to the Sunshine State to take on the Florida State Seminoles (16-11, 7-9 ACC) Monday evening at the Tucker Center. 

The Seminoles are 10-4 on their home court. Florida State has a 1-1 record in games decided by less than 4 points. 

The Tar Heels have gone 10-6 against ACC opponents. North Carolina is the best team in the ACC scoring 13.7 fast break points per game. 

Florida State’s average of 6.1 made 3-pointers per game is 2.0 fewer made shots on average than the 8.1 per game North Carolina gives up. North Carolina scores 9.5 more points per game (80.9) than Florida State allows (71.4). 

The matchup Monday is the first meeting this season between the two teams in conference play. 

TOP PERFORMERS: Watkins is scoring 18.1 points per game with 5.4 rebounds and 2.1 assists for the Seminoles. Malique Ewin is averaging 15 points and 8.2 rebounds over the last 10 games. 

Elliot Cadeau is averaging 10 points and six assists for the Tar Heels and RJ Davis is averaging 17.5 points over the last 10 games. 

Carolina has won three in a row with wins over Syracuse, NC State and Virginia, the third time this season the Tar Heels have won three straight or better. Florida State is 3-6 in their last nine games but have three wins in their last five. Carolina broke a four-game road losing streak on February 15 when it beat Syracuse, 88-82, in the JMA

Wireless Dome. The Tar Heels are 4-6 on the road this season, while FSU is 10-4 in the Tucker Center with homecourt defeats to Florida, Louisville, Virginia Tech and Clemson.  The Tar Heels are sixth in the ACC standings at 10-6, one game behind both SMU and Wake Forest. 

Carolina vs FSU 

The Tar Heels are 53-16 all-time vs. the Seminoles. Carolina is 19-8 against FSU in Tallahassee, all of which have been played in the Tucker Center. The Tar Heels have won the previous two games in Tallahassee in 2023 and 2024. Overall, UNC has won five in a row over the previous three seasons against the Seminoles. Last season, UNC won all three games – 78-70 in Chapel Hill, 75-68 in Tallahassee and 92-67 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals in Washington, D.C. Carolina overcame a 14-point, first-half deficit (and six at the half) in the win last season in the Smith Center. RJ Davis has averaged 17.4 points in eight previous games against the Seminoles with a high of 27 last season in Chapel Hill. He scored 69 points in the three wins a year ago, 27 at home, 24 in Tallahassee and 18 in the ACC quarterfinal. He has averaged 19.7 points in three previous games in the Tucker Center. Elliot Cadeau has had six assists in each of the last two wins over FSU last season. Finally Jae’Lyn Withers has scored 14 points in two previous games against the Seminoles while playing for Louisville.