Florida State Seminoles Face Off with Georgia Tech for ACC Championship

By  //  March 13, 2021

Florida State, which defeated North Carolina 69-66 in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday, faces the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 8:30 p.m. for the ACC Championship.

Greensboro, North Carolina – Florida State, which defeated North Carolina 69-66 in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday, faces the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 8:30 p.m. for the ACC Championship.

The Seminoles are playing for consecutive ACC championships for the first time in school history when they face the Yellow Jackets in the Championship game.

The Seminoles, by virtue of the first ACC Regular Season Championship in school history in 2020, were the ACC Champions a year ago. Florida State makes it fourth ACC Tournament Championship game appearance (all under Head Coach Leonard Hamilton) and won the first championship in school history with an 85-82 win over North Carolina on March 11, 2012.

FLORIDA STATE AGAINST GEORGIA TECH IN THE ACC TOURNAMENT
Florida State is 2-0 against Georgia Tech in ACC Tournament play with wins over the Yellow Jackets in the first round in 2000 and in the quarterfinals in 2009. The Seminoles’ win over Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals in 2009 (March 13, 2009; 64-62) helped the Seminoles reach the ACC Tournament Championship game for the first time in school history.

FLORIDA STATE VS. GEORGIA TECH THIS SEASON
Florida State and Georgia Tech split the regular season series in 2020-21 with both teams winning at home. Scottie Barnes led five Seminoles in double figure scoring with 16 points in Florida State’s 74-61 win at the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee (December 15, 2021) while Moses Wright scored 23 points in the Yellow Jackets 76-65 win at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta (January 30, 2021).

FLORIDA STATE WITH TWO WINS OVER THE TAR HEELS THIS SEASON
Florida State’s 69-66 win over North Carolina on Friday gave the Seminoles their second victory over the Tar Heels this season. The Seminoles also defeated North Carolina, 82-75, on January 16, 2021 in Tallahassee. It marks the first time Florid State has defeated North Carolina twice in the same season since the 1991-92 season when the Seminoles won both in Chapel Hill and in Tallahassee. The 1991-92 season was Florida State’s first as a member of the ACC.

KOPRIVICA’S DOUBLE DOUBLE HELPS FLORIDA STATE OVER NORTH CAROLINA IN ACC SEMIFINALS
Sophomore Balsa Koprivica totaled a career-high 17 points, a career-high 11 rebounds and a career-high four blocked shots in Florida State’s 69-66 win over North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals on Friday night. It marked Koprivica’s second career double double (he also totaled 13 points and 10 rebounds in Florida State’s victory over Clemson on January 23, 2021 in Tallahassee). His four blocked shots gave him 27 for the season – he has blocked 12 shots in the last seven games (1.7 bpg).

NOTING THE SPECIALITY POINTS IN FLORIDA STATE’S VICTORY OVER NORTH CAROLINA
…Florida State’s bench outscored North Carolina’s bench by a 29-18 margin on Friday night. The Tar Heels’ bench outscored the Seminoles’ bench in both regular season meetings by a 57-39 margin;
…Florida State outscored North Carolina by a 36-24 margin on points in the paint on Friday night. The Seminoles outscored the Tar Heels in the paint in two of the three regular season meetings between the two teams;
…Florida State outscored North Carolina on fast break points in each of the three meetings this year – 18-6 on January 16, 22-9 on February 27 and 19-8 on Friday night in the ACC Tournament semifinals;
…Florida State limited North Carolina to .384 shooting from the field (73 of 190) in the three meetings.

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