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Goodfellas
03-14-2009, 05:36 PM
ATLANTA (AP)—North Carolina can start focusing on a national championship. The nation’s top-ranked team was denied a shot at its third straight Atlantic Coast Conference title.

Toney Douglas scored 27 points, including the go-ahead free throws, and No. 22 Florida State held on for a 73-70 victory over the Tar Heels in the ACC semifinals Saturday.

Tyler Hansbrough had 22 points and 12 rebounds, but the reigning national player of the year lost control of the ball trying to get inside for a shot with about 20 seconds remaining and North Carolina trailing 71-70. Florida State’s Derwin Kitchen scooped it up, was fouled and hit two clutch free throws.

The Tar Heels (28-4) came down for a final shot—and got two of them. Wayne Ellington, who led North Carolina with 24 points, missed from beyond the arc. Danny Green chased down the rebound, stepped outside the line and fired up another 3 at the buzzer. It came up short, and the Seminoles erupted in a raucous celebration
North Carolina played without ACC player of the year Ty Lawson, who missed his second straight game with an injured big right toe.

“We wanted to win this real bad,” said Lawson, who did some shooting before the game before watching from the bench when a protective shoe on his ailing foot. “But our big goal is the national championship.”

Florida State (25-8) advanced to its first ACC final in school history. The Seminoles will meet with Maryland or Duke on Sunday.

“We’ve come a long way,” said Douglas, who grew up about 15 miles from the Georgia Dome and is the younger brother of Atlanta Falcons (http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/teams/atl/;_ylt=Amv0wkV8zX73hyraCzU3.V8SvbYF) receiver Harry Douglas. “But we’re still hungry. We’re never satisfied.”

Despite the loss, North Carolina is still likely to get a top seed in the NCAA tournament, especially after No. 2 Pittsburgh and No. 3 Connecticut both lost in their opening games at the Big East tournament. Tar Heels coach Roy Williams made clear his top priority when he decided to sit Lawson at the ACC tournament, trying to ensure he’s as healthy as possible to make a run at a national title.

“It’s not the end of the world,” said Bobby Frasor, Lawson’s fill-in at point guard. “We’d rather be playing (Sunday), but we played our season to be playing on the last Monday.”

Still, it was a stunning defeat for the team that had won the last two ACC tournaments, eliminating Florida State each time. The Seminoles picked up their first win over North Carolina since 2004 and their first postseason victory against the Tar Heels since the 1972 Final Four.

Paul Newberry AP Sports writer

DaveV
03-14-2009, 05:47 PM
That was a good game.