Johnson scores 39 to lead No. 6 UNC past Florida State

Florida State has lost eight of its last nine meetings at home against the Tar Heels and 17 of 20 home games against ranked opponents since the start of 2012-13.NOTES: North Carolina assistant coach Steve Robinson was back in familiar territory.

FSU (10-4, 0-2) has dropped their first two games in conference play, and visits No. 11 Miami on Saturday.

North Carolina needed everything it got from Johnson against a game Florida State team, but the Tar Heels look like the favorites in the ACC as long as Johnson can put up at least half of what he did Monday night. This outing was the first home game he played in front of his father, former Seminoles standout Tharon Mayes.

“I was lucky enough to have my dad come down here for the game”, Rathan-Mayes said. Beating North Carolina would also be a major resume win for Florida State as they pursue a tournament bid. After erasing a 14-point, first-half deficit and closing to 41-37 at halftime, the Seminoles stormed out of the gate in the second half behind their dynamic freshmen – guards Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley. Beasley scored 23 on Saturday and senior Devon Bookert had a season-high 21 with six 3-pointers.

Johnson made highlight plays on both ends of the floor. As the ball fell from the rim, Florida State freshmen Chris Koumadje spiked the ball into the third row in frustration and was hit with a costly technical foul.

The Seminoles were also without Phil Cofer, their most athletic player on the team, who needs ankle surgery, and senior center Michael Ojo (knee). “I thought a lot of times we were defending the basket really well, we had to rotate over, and they did a very good job with the dump-offs, and that’s where our defense lacked”. It can be seen as an expected loss since it was the second of back-to-back road games. The spurt was primarily thanks to Rathan-Mayes, who scored 13 straight Seminoles points late in the first half to close the gap. “I like to see that fire, I just think that you have to control it. I like to see him being emotional. So I can’t wait to see the fans and the support that we have”.

UNC responded with a 15-6 run to survive FSU’s push and cruised the rest of the way.

“The ACC is the best conference in America”, Rathan-Mayes said.