Throughout the North Carolina men’s basketball season, forward James Michael McAdoo has been criticized as being soft, quiet — not aggressive from the opening tip.
Sunday afternoon, he silenced those critics in the first half of UNC’s 79-58 win against Florida State.
Before the break, McAdoo netted 17 points, his highest first-half total in the previous five games.
“If he starts making shots then he’s a heck of a lot better than if he starts missing shots,” coach Roy Williams said.
McAdoo scored the first points of the game on a jump shot, and he finished up the afternoon with 21 points, knocking down 10-of-15 from the floor, his best shooting effort since sinking eight-of-12 against Virginia Tech a month ago.
“Ten-for-15, we need that from him every game,” Williams said. “The bottom line is he knows I want him to be more aggressive. You’ve got to make shots, and 10-for-15, to do that when the defense is aiming to stop you is pretty doggone impressive.”
With nine minutes left in the first half, Florida State took its first and only lead of the game. A complacent Tar Heel defense allowed the Seminoles to fight back from a one-time seven-point deficit, but FSU’s lead would only last for 37 seconds before McAdoo took over.
In the next five minutes, McAdoo scored 11 points as the Tar Heels put together a 20-3 run to gain a lead that they wouldn’t surrender for the remainder of the game.
“I think the biggest thing was just getting out and running,” McAdoo said. “A couple times the ball just fell in my lap, and a couple times we just set plays and I just got open and tried to get out and run.”
