UNC Rebounds, Slams FSU

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 7, 1999 / 6:02 PM EST / CBS Sportsline

North Carolina's lowest scoring team in 17 seasons decided to get offensive Sunday.

The 12th-ranked Tar Heels, coming off their worst loss of the year at Clemson on Thursday night, buried Florida State 98-64 to move within one win of their 29th straight 20-win season.

North Carolina (19-6, 7-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) wasted little time settling this one, scoring the game's first 13 points and shooting 70 percent in the first half to maintain sole possession of third place in the ACC.

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Freshman Kris Lang matched his season-high with 21 points, while Brendan Haywood added 18 to lead six double-figure scorers.

The Seminoles (12-10, 5-5) bolted to a surprising 5-2 league start. However, Florida State has now lost three straight ACC games to fall to .500 in the league.

Florida State also has had trouble with the Tar Heels recently, losing 14 of the last 16 meetings, including last year's 103-55 loss at the Smith Center -- the second worst in school history.

After North Carolina's game-opening spurt, the Seminoles closed to 22-11 with 11:36 left. But a 17-4 run by the Tar Heels, who powered inside for easy baskets, closed the door.

Ademola Okulaja, playing in his 130th straight game, and Max Owens had five points each in the run. Lang added four. The final minutes of the spurt were accomplished without Ron Hale on the floor for the Seminoles.

Hale, the top scorer in ACC games at 20.4 points a game, picked up his third foul and sat out the final 8:28 of the half as the Seminoles couldn't get into their running game and shot 37.5 percent.

Hale finished with 19 points.

North Carolina's 54-28 halftime lead was impressive, considering the Tar Heels scored only 63 points in 40 minutes against Clemson three days ago. The Tar Heels' starters were a combined 19-for-25 in the opening period.

Lang's layup with 15:05 left gave the Tar Heels a 30-point lead and Cota's -pointer less than two minutes later landed the team on 67 points, their ACC average, with more than 13 minutes to play.