RECORDS: Florida State 18-8, 6-6 ACC; North Carolina 15-7, 5-6.
COACHES: Florida State - Leonard Hamilton (32-23, second season; 232-233 overall); North Carolina - Roy Williams (first season; 433-108).
KEY PLAYERS: Florida State - Tim Pickett, G, 6-4 Sr. (15.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.4 spg); Alexander Johnson, C, 6-10 Fr. (9.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg). North Carolina - Rashad McCants, F/G, 6-4 So. (19.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg); Sean May, F/C, 6-9 So. (15.1 ppg, 10.1 rpg); Raymond Felton, PG, 6-1 So. (11.3 ppg, 7.6 apg).
NOTES: A win today not only would give FSU its most in the ACC since 1992-93, its second season in the league, but could all but assure it of its first NCAA Tournament berth since the 1997-98 season. But the Seminoles have lost 21 straight league road games and are 0-5 this season. ... The Tar Heels haven't forgotten their game in Tallahassee on Jan. 22. FSU trailed by as many as 24 points late in the first half, rallied to force overtime and won 90-81. ... UNC is last in the ACC in scoring defense (77.2 ppg) and its lack of reserves has led to fatigue down the stretch. ... About 220 former Tar Heel players will be honored at the game.
COACHES: USF - Robert McCullum (first season; 51-60 overall); Houston - Ray McCallum (43-60, fourth season; 169-146).
KEY PLAYERS: USF - Terrence Leather, F, 6-9 Jr. (14.7 ppg, 8.6 rpg); Bradley Mosley, G, 6-2 Jr. (14.3 ppg, 3.3 apg); Brian Swift, PG, 5-10 Jr. (10.1 ppg, 4.1 apg). Houston - Andre Owens, G, 6-4 Jr. (16.0 ppg, 5.3 rpg); Anwar Ferguson, C, 7-2 Sr. (7.7 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 4.2 bpg).
NOTES: This is probably a must-win for last-place USF's conference tournament chances as the bottom two schools don't qualify. Of the five remaining games, this one and Feb. 28 at East Carolina are against teams right above USF in the standings. Houston and ECU also are two of the three C-USA teams the Bulls play twice this season, and they lost to both at home. ... USF has played much better in the past three games, respectable losses at highly regarded Cincinnati (80-67) and Charlotte (84-72) sandwiched around a 68-60 win over Southern Miss. ... The Bulls have dropped 12 straight C-USA road games. ... USF's Gerrick Morris (4.0) and Ferguson (3.8) are 1-2 in blocked shots in C-USA games. ... Houston beat USF 65-53 on Jan. 31 in Tampa as the Bulls shot 28.6 percent. "That was clearly our worst shooting outing of the season," McCullum said. "It'd be nice if we could shoot better. We're a much-improved team from that time."
