ESPN Men's Basketball

Incoming freshmen should anticipate major adjustments at the Division I level. The players are bigger, stronger and faster.

But the uptick in competition is only part of the transition from high school to college. The 21st-century college basketball player should understand off-court expectations, too.

They're all about adhering to proper swagger etiquette.

I hope you all have notepads ready. Here’s what you’ll need to get ready for Division I basketball off the floor:

• An Instagram account: Twitter is so 2011. These days, college basketball players send messages through photos via Instagram. It’s a cool tool. You take photos, attach a brief memo and ship the image to the world. Or if you’re Jared Sullinger, you send photos of text-message exchanges with other All-America forwards. You need this. Trust me.
• Friendships with rappers: Blame Notre Dame’s Skylar Diggins. Lil Wayne’s highly publicized crush on the talented guard dramatically increased her street cred and Twitter follower count. Jay-Z sat behind Kentucky’s bench during the Final Four. Romeo Miller (the onetime Lil' Romeo who now just goes by Romeo) didn’t just support USC basketball. He actually joined the team. Find a rapper. Become his friend.
• Fashionable specs: I know. You have 20/20 vision. Doesn’t matter. This is all about style. I learned about this recent development in college basketball fashion from Michigan State’s Adreian Payne. He says his black glasses project sophistication. It’s either that or an affinity for Clark Kent.
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Kelly Kline/Getty ImagesNerlens Noel brings a signature coif to Kentucky ... but does he have the right backpack?
• The Kevin Durant backpack: Throw the gym bag in the trash. That’s old school. You need a backpack. Not a normal backpack. You won’t haul anything in it. You need a backpack that’s also a fashion statement. Durant’s backpack -- one he wears to postgame press conferences -- started this trend.
• Access to a state-of-the-art facility: Florida State’s players get access to their team’s practice facility by placing their hands on some sort of “Star Trek” detection device. Indiana’s facility features underwater treadmills in the training room, his and hers gyms for the men’s and women’s squads and an atrium that doubles as a museum for Indiana basketball. Players’ lounges -- think college kids bonding, not “Shaft” -- are standard, too. And then, there’s Oklahoma State’s basketball facility. Is that legal?
• Trend-setting hair: Nerlens Noel is covered. But what about the rest of the incoming freshmen? Will your hair matter? It definitely did for Wisconsin’s Mike Bruesewitz. Stores in Madison sell wigs of his former curly-afro look. Still waiting for the cornrows version. The hair on top of St. Louis guard Jordair Jett’s head can only be described as majestic. Talk to your barber about this.
• Beats by Dre headphones: Yes, they’re $300 headphones, but a multitude of college players wears them and, somehow, purchases them. They’re a necessity, I guess. You either have a pair of mammoth Beats by Dre headphones or you don’t wear headphones in public as a Division I basketball player. I don’t think the headphones offer a real advantage over their competitors. But, they’re the norm for college basketball players. The obsession with Dr. Dre’s headphones among NBA players has certainly trickled down. Even high school players demand them now. Put it on the shopping list.

Feel free to add on …

Teams from the state of Ohio make up one-fourth of the schools in the Sweet 16 this season after Cincinnati and crosstown rival Xavier won their games. The Bearcats and Musketeers join the Ohio Bobcats and Ohio State Buckeyes in the next round.

It's the first time in NCAA tournament history that four schools from a single state have advanced to the Sweet 16 in the same season.

East Region
(6) Cincinnati 62, (3) Florida State 56
The Bearcats will be making their sixth Sweet 16 appearance and first since 2001. Cincinnati went on a 12-6 run over the final minute and a half of the game, which began with a Dion Dixon steal and dunk.

Sean Kilpatrick led the Bearcats with 18 points and Cincinnati recorded 13 steals to just five for Florida State. Florida State fails to reach consecutive Sweet 16s for the first time since 1992-93.

Cincinnati now takes on No. 2 seed Ohio State in the Sweet 16 Thursday. These schools met twice for the National Championship in 1961 and 1962 with the Bearcats winning both times.

South Region
(10) Xavier 70, (15) Lehigh 58
Another team from Cincinnati, Xavier, will be making its sixth Sweet 16 appearance as well. Kenny Frease scored a career-high 25 points shooting 84.6 percent (11-13) from the floor and also grabbed 12 rebounds. He's the first player to record those numbers in a NCAA tournament game since Blake Griffin in 2009.

Lehigh which scored 19 points in transition versus Duke on Friday scored just seven against Xavier. The Mountain Hawks entered the tournament averaging nearly 16 points per game in transition, which ranked in the top 25. Lehigh's loss brings No. 15 seeds to 0-6 all-time in the Round of 32.

Xavier next takes on No. 3 seed Baylor on Friday.

(2) Kansas 63, (10) Purdue 60
After a late scare, Kansas is headed to its 19th Sweet 16 and fifth in its past six seasons. Thomas Robinson scored 11 points and 13 rebounds for his 25th double-double of the season, which ties Drew Gooden's school record in 2002. The Jayhawks scored 17 points in transition including their final six points.

Robbie Hummel ends his Boilermakers career scoring a team-high 26 points as Purdue loses in the Round of 32 for the second straight year.

Kansas faces No. 11 seed North Carolina State on Friday hoping to advance to the Elite Eight for the second straight season. The Wolfpack have not been to the Regional Finals since 1986.

Through the Round of 32, no games in this year's Men's Basketball Championship have gone to overtime. It's the first time since seeding began in 1979 that there hasn't been a single overtime game in the Round of 64 and Round of 32.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Cincinnati’s Mick Cronin wasn’t biting late Sunday night.

His Bearcats had just bulldozed No. 3 seed Florida State 62-56 in the third round of the East Regional at Bridgestone Arena to advance to their first Sweet 16 since 2001.

Up next just happens to be Ohio State, which is about a two-hour drive from Cincinnati’s campus, but might as well be 2,000 miles away when it comes to the schools establishing any semblance of a hoops rivalry.

They’ve played only once since Cincinnati beat Ohio State in the 1962 national championship game, and that was at the Wooden Tradition tournament in Indianapolis in 2006.

Cronin has made it known in the past that he’d love to play Ohio State on a regular basis and that there’s no reason the schools shouldn’t play. The only problem is that Ohio State hasn’t wanted to play, which probably explains Cronin’s answer Sunday when asked about the irony of facing the Buckeyes on such a national stage Thursday in Boston.

“I have great respect for their program,” Cronin said. “Other than that, they’re the next team we play. You know, these guys have a goal. We have a goal, and we got into the tournament to win it. I want my guys thinking that way because I believe in them. It’s important that they know that I believe we’re capable of winning the whole tournament.

“We’re capable of winning any game we play.”

And that includes the No. 2-seed Buckeyes, one of four schools from the state of Ohio to make the Sweet 16.

The Bearcats (26-10) got there with toughness, defense -- and as Cronin reminded everybody Sunday -- a healthy dose of talent, too.

Whether it was Sean Kilpatrick going 4-of-6 from 3-point range, Jaquon Parker yanking down 11 rebounds, or Dion Dixon stealing Luke Loucks' pass out of three-quarter court pressure and sailing in for a tomahawk dunk, Cincinnati made every play it needed to in knocking off the Seminoles. A Florida State team that won the ACC tournament championship this season and beat both Duke and North Carolina twice.

“I think we get a lot of credit for playing hard,” Cronin said. “I think, hopefully, tonight people saw our talent level, to be able to do things some teams in the ACC couldn’t do last week on a neutral court. … I think our talent level is a lot higher than people give us credit for.”

It was the Bearcats’ eighth win this season over a nationally-ranked opponent, and they had that unmistakable look about them when it came time to win or lose the game on Sunday.

Not only did they hit 9-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes, but they made key stops on the defensive end and chased down all the 50-50 balls.

Dixon’s steal and soaring dunk with 1:30 to play swung a back-and-forth game in Cincinnati’s favor for good.

“That kind of sparked us a little bit,” said Dixon, who had 15 points and three steals.

Like their coach, the Cincinnati players also downplayed the fact that it was Ohio State standing in their way next week in Boston.

What they didn’t downplay was where they expect to be when this tournament is over.

“Going to the Sweet 16 is all cool,” Parker said. “But we’re thinking way better than that. We’re trying to get past the Sweet 16 and do bigger and better things.”

The deeper the Bearcats advance, the more people will forget about their ugly brawl with Xavier in December that resulted in multiple suspensions of players.

Cronin said it’s been a fight every step of the way to get out from under that stigma, but he’s proud of the way his players have responded.

“We’ve been on a mission to define what Cincinnati basketball is all about, what our university and city is all about, and the kids have banded together to do that,” Cronin said. “It hasn’t been easy. These guys’ backs have been against the wall since that day, not because of the issue, because we were 5-3 and our RPI was sky-rocketing.

“We were so far away from the NCAA tournament we couldn’t see it with binoculars.”

They can see it now. Matter of fact, they have a front-row seat.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A quick look at No. 6 seed Cincinnati’s 62-56 victory over No. 3 seed Florida State in the third round of the NCAA tournament’s East Regional at Bridgestone Arena:

Overview: It was a physical contest from the outset with both teams looking like two big bulls slamming into each other. Florida State led by one at halftime, and it stayed close throughout the second half.

The two teams traded leads, and neither shot particularly well (38 percent from the field for both teams). What killed the Seminoles were costly turnovers, and the Bearcats capitalized. They outscored the Seminoles 19-6 off turnovers and also had a 13-5 advantage on fast-break points.

And even though Cincinnati was just 5-of-15 from 3-point range, guard Sean Kilpatrick hit back-to-back shots from long distance just inside 4 minutes, and then the Bearcats only missed once from the free-throw line in the final two minutes of the game.

Turning point: The game was tied at 50-50, and Florida State had the ball. But a lazy pass by FSU’s Luke Loucks against Cincinnati's pressure defense was stolen by Dion Dixon, who flew in for a dunk to give the Bearcats a 2-point lead with 1:30 to play. A couple of possessions later, Loucks committed another turnover when he was called for traveling. The Seminoles never got any closer than four points the rest of the way.

Key player: Kilpatrick led the Bearcats with 18 points and was 4-of-6 from behind the 3-point arc. He also had 6 rebounds and 2 steals in 37 minutes.

Key stat: The Bearcats were 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in last two minutes of the game. They only shot 63.7 percent from the line during the season.

Miscellaneous: Even though Cincinnati guard Cashmere Wright shot just 2-of-10 from the field, he dished out 6 assists, collected 5 steals and turned the ball over only twice in 33 minutes. … The Bearcats wore the black version of their new Adidas uniforms on Sunday. Their jerseys were black with fluorescent orange/pink numbers and trim. … Florida State’s leading scorer, Michael Snaer, had another off shooting night. He was 0-of-7 from the floor in the second-round victory over St. Bonaventure and was just 4-of-11 Sunday against Cincinnati.

What’s next: Cincinnati (26-10) will advance to the Sweet 16 to face second-seeded Ohio State on Thursday night in Boston. It's one of those matchups that you wouldn't see during the regular season. Ohio State hasn't been willing to play Cincinnati on a regular basis and has typically wanted to play only if the game were in Columbus.

Slowly but surely -- OK, quickly and furiously -- we've arrived at the final day of the first weekend of the greatest sports competition in the world. (I used to be somewhat sheepish writing that, what with the World Cup and the Olympics and so on, but after this weekend? After two wins for two No. 15 seeds in three hours? I don't feel so sheepish now.)

After an occasionally ugly but universally hard-fought (and almost always exciting) Saturday, we have but eight spots for advancement available for the remaining 16 teams in the tournament.

The math is cruel. Someone has to go home. Let's take a look how that process may unfold:

Midwest Region

No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 11 NC State, 12:15 p.m. ET, CBS: The Hoyas were a relatively popular upset-pick victim in brackets, but they snuffed out any such notion against the plucky, this-could-be-their-year Belmont Bruins with ease Friday afternoon. How? Defense first. The Hoyas employ a downright stifling zone defense, one that allows the lowest opponent 3-point field goal percentage in the nation.

The Hoyas aren't quite so dominant on offense, but they are effective. Center Henry Sims has developed into a go-to post scorer whose best feature, believe it or not, is his passing, and the Hoyas have mastered John Thompson III's open-air Princeton system. Few teams that play this deliberately slow -- the Hoyas average 63 possessions per game -- are this much fun to watch. (The backcuts, the screens, the pivots, Sims' passing ... it can be downright beautiful.)

The Wolfpack happen to be playing their best basketball of the season -- they scored 1.17 points per trip against No. 6 San Diego State on Friday -- and their size and athleticism, especially that of emerging sophomore forward C.J. Leslie, gives them a chance to hang around by creating second chances on the offensive glass. Georgetown should win this game, sure, but this isn't the same NC State team we saw in the regular season, even down the stretch.

No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 8 Creighton, 5:15 p.m. ET, CBS: You know the deal: Highly touted UNC star Harrison Barnes and long-ignored Creighton forward Doug McDermott both hail from Ames, Iowa, where they starred on the same state-title-winning high school hoops team, before Barnes made the Skype call heard 'round the college hoops world. Since then, McDermott -- who was passed over even by his own father, Greg McDermott, before the coach decided to leave Iowa State and take the vacant gig at Creighton -- has since morphed into a national player of the year candidate while Barnes, still a top NBA lottery prospect, has had two very good but-not-quite-great seasons for the ballyhooed Tar Heels. That matchup is the stuff of storyline legend -- my home state is certainly excited about it -- and it should be a lot of fun.

But there are other concerns here, too. Will Creighton choose to run with the fast-breaking Tar Heels, or try to hash things out in the half court? Can UNC guard Kendall Marshall provide the point of defensive attack required to stop a Bluejays team that enters the game ranked No. 1 in the nation in effective field goal percentage? Will Carolina forward John Henson play? And even if he doesn't, can Creighton -- a very good offensive team plagued by mediocre defense -- survive the Tar Heels onslaught? Signs point to no, but it will be fun to watch McDermott and Co. give it their best shot.

No. 12 South Florida vs. No. 13 Ohio, 7:10 p.m. ET, TBS: You may have picked South Florida to topple Temple. You might have imagined an Ohio upset of Michigan. The odds you picked both are slim. But these teams -- two Friday upset winners lost amidst the mania that rightfully surrounded Norfolk State's and Lehigh's legendary victories -- will hardly mind. USF continues to play its rather ugly brand of basketball, but that slow, defensive style works. It got the Bulls into the tournament, and with Anthony Collins and Augustus Gilchrist leading the way, it remained successful Friday.

Ohio, meanwhile, held a very good Michigan offense in check while scoring 1.14 points per trip in its own right. Last time the Bobcats were here, they upset Georgetown before falling in the second round. This is just South Florida's third appearance in tournament history; Friday was their program's first win. Needless to say, both programs would like to stick around for just a little bit longer.

No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 10 Purdue, 8:40 p.m. ET, TNT: Purdue was excellent down the stretch in Friday's first-round win over Saint Mary's, and Matt Painter has gotten more out of this team -- whose only real "star," Robbie Hummel, made a redemptive return from two straight ACL surgeries this season -- than anyone might have reasonably expected coming into the year. This just in: Painter can really coach.

But, for the record, Bill Self can, too, and his team has a major advantage over the Boilermakers for one obvious and simple reason: The Jayhawks have really, really good big guys. Purdue does not. How do the Boilers, who started essentially a five-guard lineup Friday (with Hummel and D.J. Byrd serving as stretch forwards) stop Thomas Robinson? How does an overmatched big man corps of Sandi Marcius and Travis Carroll give Purdue anything inside with block machine Jeff Withey patrolling the paint? The answer: I don't know. I'd wager a guess Painter doesn't, either.

West Region

No. 1 Michigan State vs. No. 9 Saint Louis, 2:45 p.m. ET, CBS: Admit it, the moment you saw Memphis' name pop up next to No. 1 seed Michigan State in the West Region on Sunday's selection show, you thought, "Wow, that's a brutal No. 8 seed for the Spartans." And it was. But as Saint Louis proved, that No. 9 seed was no slouch, either. Rick Majerus' team boasts one of the 10 best defenses in the country, one that held a previously scorching (and immensely talented) Tigers team to just 0.86 points per trip Friday afternoon. For the Spartans to avoid the same fate, they will have to limit turnovers and prove equally stout on their own defensive end (the latter of which just so happens to be a specialty). "Majerus in the tournament" is scary enough, but nothing will come easy against these Billikens.

No. 7 Florida vs. No. 15 Norfolk State, 6:10 p.m. ET, TNT: Can the magic continue? Can tiny Norfolk State take down another high-major heavy? Can forward Kyle O'Quinn -- who, after Friday's shocking upset of No. 2-seeded Missouri, gave one of the greatest on-air postgame interviews in college hoops history and later told reporters "We busted my bracket, too!" -- go to work on the Gators the way he went to work on the Tigers?

The Cinderella optimist would say that Norfolk matches up just as well with Florida as it did with Missouri; the Gators are another guard-oriented, 3-point reliant squad with just one true big man (Patric Young) left to rebound and patrol the paint. The pessimist would say Young is much more of a defensive force than Missouri's Ricardo Ratliffe, and more than athletic enough to contain O'Quinn while the Gators' sharpshooting guards (Kenny Boynton and Bradley Beal, chiefly) go to work on the offensive end.

Still, you have to like Norfolk State's chances. There's something special going on in the Spartans' first NCAA tournament appearance. Could more history -- the first No. 15-seeded insurgent in the Sweet 16 -- be on the horizon?

South Region

No. 10 Xavier vs. No. 15 Lehigh, 7:45 p.m. ET, TruTV: Xavier has made a habit of attending Sweet 16s in recent years -- before last season, the Musketeers had played into the second weekend in three straight seasons -- and thanks to the miracle that was C.J. McCollum's 30-point performance in an upset over Duke, their chances are suddenly looking downright likely. But to make that happen, they'll have to get great perimeter defense from Tu Holloway and Mark Lyons. If McCollum is slicing and dicing the Musketeers like he sliced and diced the Blue Devils, Chris Mack's team may yet be one more victim on McCollum's ride to NCAA tournament immortality. But if he isn't? Xavier might just get into the Sweet 16 again. Given the depths this team experienced this season, the way the Dec. 10 brawl with Cincinnati derailed a once-promising year, that would be an upset in and of itself.

No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 6 Cincinnati, 9:40 p.m. ET: Speaking of Cincinnati, the Bearcats are still here, too, and they've played the best basketball of their season at the best moments. They overcame a weak RPI to seal a tournament bid, then toppled Syracuse in last week's Big East tournament, then handled, in impressively clutch fashion, a better-than-its-seed Texas team that stormed back from a deep deficit in Friday's win. But do they have enough to get past Florida State?

The Seminoles are the Seminoles: They still play one of the toughest, most physical brands of straight-up man-to-man defense in the country. They still occasionally struggle on the offensive end. But FSU's improvement from beyond the arc led to its ACC conference tournament title and, in general, the most successful season of Leonard Hamilton's slow-burn tenure. If FSU is merely good on the offensive end, and its usual self on defense, the Noles should get through to the Sweet 16. But Cincinnati will be the toughest -- with all due respect to Murray State -- sixth-seeded out in the tournament field.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Taking a look at the NCAA tournament third-round games on Sunday at Bridgestone Arena:

No. 12 seed South Florida (22-13) vs. No. 13 seed Ohio University (28-7), 7:10 p.m. ET

The long shots are always the best stories this time of year, the tiny universities that come out of nowhere to make a run in the NCAA tournament.

South Florida’s hardly a tiny university. But when you start thinking hoops and USF in the same breath, and then throw the Big East into the mix, it’s hard to find anybody who really thought the Bulls would be here.

Well, they’re here, and they face Ohio University on Sunday night for a chance to make it to their first Sweet 16.

Not bad for a team that was squarely on the bubble when the NCAA pairings came out and a team that lost to Penn State and Auburn earlier this season.

For that matter, it was hard to see any of this coming before the season. The Bulls finished 10-23 a year ago under Stan Heath, his third losing season at USF, and there were a lot of people wondering if this might be his last season.

The Big East coaches picked USF to finish 14^th out of 16 teams in the preseason.

Heath, who was fired at Arkansas after five seasons, had other ideas, and so did his team.

The Bulls scrapped their way to a 12-6 record in the Big East, their first winning conference record since joining the league in 2005. They squeezed into the NCAA tournament as one of the final teams in, and as a No. 12 seed, had to play in the first round in Dayton, Ohio.

They beat California late Wednesday night, traveled to Nashville on Thursday and then polished off Temple a day later, giving them their first two NCAA tournament wins in the program's history.

Even when their seed came out, the Bulls’ players were oblivious.

The only thing that mattered to them was that they were playing on college basketball’s biggest stage -- and they’re still playing.

“We’re just happy to be here, and we’re going to go out and play basketball, and regardless of what team we have in front of us, whatever the seed may be, that’s just a number,” USF senior forward Ron Anderson Jr. said. “At the end of the day, it’s just five guys going against five guys.”

Heath is no stranger to deep runs in the NCAA tournament. He worked under Tom Izzo at Michigan State and made three Final Four trips with the Spartans. Then as head coach at Kent State, Heath took the Golden Flashes to the Elite Eight in 2002.

That magical run got him the job at Arkansas, but he was ousted after five seasons.

He’s proving now in his fifth season at USF -- with the Bulls’ black-and-blue brand of defense and their unselfishness on offense -- that he hasn’t forgotten how to navigate his way through March.

“The kids are so excited to be here,” Heath said. “They’re so excited to be a part of the NCAA tournament, and now we’re in the third round. I just don’t see them not seizing this moment. I just don’t see it.”

Who to watch: Ohio junior guard D.J. Cooper. You might want to loosen up the old neck muscles, because Cooper is an absolute blur on the basketball court. He’s a 5-11, 165-pound left-hander who can shoot it from deep and beat pretty much anybody he wants off the dribble. When his outside shot is going, he’s almost impossible to defend. He doesn’t shoot a great percentage from the field (35 percent), but he's fearless when it comes to taking the ball to the basket and also knows how to get his teammates involved. If you haven’t had a chance to watch Cooper play much this season, do yourself a favor and keep your eye on No. 5. He’s a treat to watch play.

What to watch: The scoreboard. With the way these two teams play defense, it’s not a stretch to think that the first team to 55 may win. South Florida is big and physical, and the Bulls swarm opponents any time they get close to the paint. They held California to 13 points in the first half of their opening-round game and then suffocated Temple 58-44 on Friday. Ohio doesn’t have South Florida’s size or length, but the Bobcats are one of the best teams in the country at turning teams over. They forced an average of 17.7 turnovers per game during the season and held Michigan to 40.7 percent shooting on Friday in their 65-60 win over the Wolverines.

No. 3 seed Florida State (25-9) vs. No. 6 seed Cincinnati (25-10), 9:40 p.m. ET

One team came within a game of winning its conference tournament.

The other team did win its conference tournament.

Both teams will tell you that they play in the toughest hoops conference in the land.

It’s the ACC versus the Big East on Sunday night in the third round of the East Regional, and while their styles may not be exactly the same, Cincinnati and Florida State have the identical mentality when it comes to living to see another day in the NCAA tournament.

“You’ve got to train your guys to play with tremendous toughness,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “If you let some of these teams run their offense, they’re so good. The coaching is so good. The skill level is so sky-high. You’re going to give up baskets.

“You’ve got to be able to take people out of what they’re doing to try and create some easy baskets for your team, because it’s so hard to score on the other end.”

It’s a way of life in the Big East, according to the Cincinnati players.

“Every game, it’s like you’re playing for your life,” Cincinnati senior guard Dion Dixon said. “That’s why you see so many games come down to the end, and it’s not always pretty.

“But what it does is prepare you for this. One bad game, and you’re gone. Your back’s to the wall as soon as you step onto the court. That’s OK with us because we feel like we’re at our best when our backs are to the wall.”

The Bearcats’ only two losses since the middle of February were to a pair of teams still playing. They lost in the Big East tournament championship game to Louisville (50-44) and at South Florida (46-45) back on Feb. 26.

“You’ve got to be able to grind, and when you get good looks, you’ve got to be able to make clutch shots, especially in the second half,” Dixon said. “We’ve been able to do that.”

As equipped as the Bearcats think they are to advance to the second week of the tournament, the Seminoles are equally nasty on defense and took down both Duke and North Carolina en route to winning the ACC tournament championship.

And consider this: They won their second-round NCAA tournament game on Friday over St. Bonaventure despite their leading scorer, junior guard Michael Snaer, going scoreless for the first time in his career.

“We lean on each other and don’t have to depend on just one player or one aspect of our team,” Florida State senior forward Bernard James said. “That’s something that we’ve emphasized, being able to win games in a lot of different ways. But the constant with us is always going to be our defense.”

Who to watch: Michael Snaer. He was 0-for-7 against St. Bonaventure and didn’t score a point. Snaer averaged 14.5 points during the season and shot 42.1 percent from the 3-point line. The chances of him going scoreless again are about as good as Steve Spurrier showing up behind the Florida State bench with his face painted up in Seminoles colors. Snaer’s too good of a player not to bounce back, but the Bearcats will work hard to keep him from getting into any kind of groove early.

What to watch: The zone. Cincinnati has been able to change up its defenses and again had some success with the 2-3 zone on Friday. Cronin was pleased with the way the Bearcats rebounded out of the zone in their second-round win over Texas. He also thinks the zone helps get senior forward Yancy Gatessome rest. The 6-foot-10 James is Florida State’s main threat inside, but the Seminoles also start 6-11 center Xavier Gibson.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Now that’s more like it.

This city is known for its music, specifically the country variety.

But it was compelling basketball that had Bridgestone Arena rocking in the two afternoon games Friday, and after a pretty flat day Thursday in the NCAA tournament, we needed a little drama.

The start to the Cincinnati-Texas game didn’t look like much. The Longhorns had more air balls than points midway through the first half.

But after managing just four field goals in the first half, Texas dug itself out of a 19-point hole early in the second half and actually had a pair of chances to take the lead in the final minutes before falling 65-59 to Cincinnati.

“You know nothing’s going to be just handed to you in this tournament,” Cincinnati senior guard Dion Dixon said. “We’ve got a veteran team. We’ve been here before. We know that it takes 40 minutes.”

Friday's second game in Nashville was the essence of what makes this tournament the spectacle it is.

St. Bonaventure, a small Franciscan Catholic school located about an hour from Buffalo, N.Y., took No. 3 seed Florida State to the wire before losing 66-63.

The Bonnies led the whole way, and their passionate fans were as much the story as the team itself. The school has only about 2,400 students, and it sounded like just about all of them were in the arena for most of the game.

“A week ago, we were planning on playing in the CBI [College Basketball Invitational], and here we are in the Big Dance with a chance to tie the game up,” St. Bonaventure coach Mark Schmidt said. “You couldn’t ask for more.”

Even after Florida State showed tremendous resolve and finally took its first lead with about five minutes to play, the Bonnies had their chances to pull off the shocker.

“That’s the ACC [tournament] champs. We’re the little Bonnies, and we’re going toe to toe with them,” Schmidt said. “That’s a credit to my guys.”

But therein lies the beauty of this tournament, and why people skip work and skip school every year for what’s now the second round of this hoops extravaganza.

“That’s why they call it March Madness,” Schmidt said. “Can the underdog compete with the big dog and have enough to knock them off?”

In this case, the Bonnies didn’t have enough, but that had more to do with Florida State than it did with anything St. Bonaventure didn’t do.

More precisely, it had everything to do with the Seminoles’ 27-year-old senior forward, Bernard James, whose story already has been an inspiration to hoops fans and non-hoops fans all over the country. James served six years in the Air Force, with three deployments to the Middle East.

On Friday, he was an inspiration to his teammates, and at times, put them on his back and carried them.

“The finality of it all hits you," James said. "Nobody wants to go home.”

There were stretches in the game during which James was screaming at his teammates and telling them to simply get him the ball. He finished 8-of-11 from the field with 19 points and nine rebounds.

“As a point guard, when a 6-foot-10 Army veteran, or an Air Force veteran, is screaming at you, you listen,” Florida State guard Luke Loucks said. “So, you know, a few plays we weren’t even running any plays. I was kind of waiting people out, giving him the ball, and obviously you look at the stat sheet and he was producing all night long.”

It also says something about Florida State's resolve that the Seminoles could win with their leading scorer, guard Michael Snaer, going 0-for-7 and failing to score a point.

"We've been kind of a resilient team all year," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. "We've been in a lot of these close games, and this was another typical ACC blowout by three points."

Entering Friday, the last dozen teams to shoot at least 50 percent from the field, make at least 10 three-pointers, and commit fewer than 10 turnovers in an NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship game all won.

But that history was not on Missouri’s side, as the No. 2 seeded Tigers fell to 15th-seeded Norfolk State, 86-84 in the tournament's biggest upset so far.

The state of Virginia is the home of the 15-versus-2 upset. Of the five to take place in tournament history, three of the winners (Hampton, Richmond, and Norfolk State) have come from Virginia.

Norfolk State scored 86 points on 64 possessions, its second highest efficiency (1.34 points per possession) in a game in the last 15 seasons.

One of the keys to the win was that the Spartans were 5-for-5 from the field on second-chance opportunities in the second half, including the go-ahead tip-in by Kyle O'Quinn with 34 seconds remaining.

Norfolk State's 86 points are the third-most scored by a 15 seed in a Men's Basketball Championship game. The most is 90 by Eastern Michigan vs Pittsburgh in 1988.

O'Quinn paced the Spartans with 26 points and 14 rebounds. He had had games of this nature before, just not in this sort of setting. O’Quinn entered the day with 48 career double-doubles, tied for third-most among active players

Missouri has now lost as a No. 2 seed, a No. 3 seed (1990 vs Northern Iowa) and a No. 4 seed (1987 vs Xavier) in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers join Arizona as the only teams to lose in the Round of 64 as a No. 2, 3 and 4 seed.

In other early action:

East Region
(3) Florida State 66, (14) St. Bonaventure 63
The Seminoles have won their last three games by exactly three points each. In addition, four of their last six games have been three-point wins.


Overall, Florida State is 6-0 this season in games decided by exactly three points. Michael Snaer, who leads the team in scoring, did not score a point (0-for-7 from the field). This was the first time in 100 career games with the Seminoles that Snaer was held scoreless.

(6) Cincinnati 65, (11) Texas 59
Cincinnati has now advanced to the Round of 32 in 12 of its last 13 Men's Basketball Championship appearances.

Texas shot just 16.0 percent from the field in the 1st half (4-for-25), its second-lowest percentage in any half of a game since 1965-66.

Midwest Region
(1) North Carolina 77, (16) Vermont 58
The Tar Heels improve to 30-1 all-time in Men's Basketball Championship games played in the state of North Carolina.

(3) Georgetown 74, (14) Belmont 59
Georgetown snaps a three-game losing streak in the Men's Basketball Championship, with all three losses to double-digit seeds, to advance to the Round of 32 for the first time since 2008.

(11) NC State 79, (6) San Diego State 65
The Wolfpack shot 58.5 percent from the field, their fourth-highest field goal percentage in a Men's Basketball Championship game and highest since 1989 (63.2 percent vs Iowa).

(8) Creighton 58, (9) Alabama 57
Creighton overcomes an 11-point second half deficit and reaches the Round of 32 for the first time since 2002. The Bluejays have won eight straight and improve to 8-1 this season in games decided by five points or fewer.

West Region
(7) Florida 71, (10) Virginia 45
Florida's 26-point win is tied for its fourth-largest in a Men's Basketball Championship game. The 45 points allowed by Florida are its fewest allowed in a Men's Basketball Championship game.

The Gators were 24-for-30 (80 percent) from two-point range, their highest field-goal percentage inside the arc in a Men's Basketball Championship game.

The College GameDay crew talks about how big man Bernard James helped Florida State get past St. Bonaventure on Friday.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Breaking down No. 3 seed Florida State’s 66-63 win over No. 14 seed St. Bonaventure in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Bridgestone Arena:

Overview: Florida State, after trailing the entire game, took its first lead at 55-52 with 5:19 remaining on Ian Miller's 3-pointer. The Seminoles never trailed again, but had to fight off a St. Bonaventure team that looked and played a lot better than your typical No. 14 seed.

The Bonnies led by as many as 10 points in the first half and were seemingly in command the whole way. But the Seminoles made clutch 3-pointers down the stretch and were able to slow down the Bonnies’ star player, Andrew Nicholson, for much of the second half. Nicholson finished with 20 points, but went nearly 16 minutes without a basket in the second half.

Turning point: St. Bonaventure was leading by four points with a little more than eight minutes to play when sophomore guard Charlon Kloof drove the baseline and missed a dunk. It could have put the Bonnies up by six and taken an already pro-St. Bonaventure crowd to another decibel level. Instead, the Seminoles came back and scored, making it a two-point game.

Key player: Florida State senior forward Bernard James was 8-of-11 from the field with 19 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. His dunk after the Seminoles missed a layup in transition tied the game at 52-52.

Key stat: Nicholson made all five of his shots in the first half for the Bonnies, but picked up his third foul with 16:34 left in the game. His 3-pointer pulled St. Bonaventure within three points with just under two minutes to play. It was his first basket since the 17:23 mark, as he made just 3-of-12 shots in the second half.

Miscellaneous: The Seminoles got key contributions off the bench from Okaro White and Miller. White drained a 3-pointer with a second left on the shot clock with a minute to play. But his biggest play was a tap-out after a missed free throw by Deividas Dulkys with 25.2 seconds remaining and the Seminoles clinging to a 65-63 lead. Miller also made two of his four 3-point attempts. … Florida State’s bench outscored St. Bonaventure 22-11. … The Seminoles have now won six in a row.

What’s next: Florida State (25-9) advances to the third round to face Cincinnati on Sunday. The Bearcats won earlier Friday over Texas in the second round.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Breaking down the Friday afternoon games in the Music City:

No. 6 seed Cincinnati (24-10) vs. No. 11 Texas (20-13), 12:15 p.m. ET

What to watch: Seeing the way Cincinnati scrapped its way into the Big East Conference championship game, it’s hard not to peg the Bearcats as one of those teams in the field playing its best basketball right now. They’ve won seven of their past nine games and lead the country with seven victories over ranked teams. Texas, on the other hand, enters the tourney trying to find some consistency after losing four of its past seven games. There’s no better time to find that mojo than right now. There were a lot of people who wondered if the Longhorns would even make the tournament. Here’s their chance to prove that they belong.

Who to watch: Texas guard J'Covan Brown can score points in bunches, and when he gets it going, he’s a headache to defend. The 6-foot-1 junior has averaged 24.8 points over his past four games and has scored at least 21 in each of those four. He leads the Big 12 in scoring at 20.1 points per game, but hasn’t shot it particularly well from 3-point range coming into this game. In his past five outings, he’s just 6-of-30 from behind the arc. Brown takes 28 percent of his team’s shots.

Why to watch: The Bearcats have been one of the turnaround stories this season in college basketball, but it goes much deeper than just hoops. The ugly scenes from their fight with Xavier on Dec. 10 remain etched in a lot of people’s minds, but Cincinnati recovered from multiple player suspensions -- and showing a new resolve along the way -- and played its way into the Big East tournament final. One of the catalysts has been senior forward Yancy Gates, who was suspended six games for his role in the brawl. When he returned, the Bearcats tweaked their offense to better utilize Gates’ offensive rebounding prowess, and they took off as a team -- winning seven of their nine games against ranked foes.

What they’re saying: “We had a chance to win the Big East tournament, which nobody expected us to do, and hopefully, we’ll do the unexpected and win games here, which nobody probably expects us to do. We’ll just do what we’ve been doing and keep playing against the odds and trying to prove people wrong.” -- Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates

“I’ve told my team all year if we would work as hard on the offensive end as we do on the defensive end, we’d be a much better team. And at times where I don’t think we’ve improved or shown the improvement is with our offense.” -- Texas coach Rick Barnes

Around the rim: This is the sixth time that Texas has been a double-digit seed in the NCAA tournament. Each of the previous five times, the Longhorns won at least one game in the tournament. … The Cincinnati-Texas game will tip off at 11:15 a.m. local time in Nashville, and the Cincinnati players haven’t been crazy about playing early games this season. Nobody was complaining Thursday, though. “It’s the NCAA tournament. If you can’t get up at whatever time the game is, you shouldn’t be here,” Cincinnati guard Cashmere Wright said. … Before Cincinnati boarded the bus for Nashville, coach Mick Cronin took the players into the UC Arena and had them look up at the Bearcats’ national championship banners. “I just think you’ve got to believe that you can win it, and I think my guys need to realize that it’s possible and that it’s happened at the University of Cincinnati. We’ve got to believe that it’s going to happen again,” Cronin said.

No. 3 seed Florida State (24-9) vs. No. 14 St. Bonaventure (20-11), 2:45 p.m. ET

What to watch: Is Florida State as good as it looked last weekend in gunning down Duke and North Carolina in back-to-back days to win the ACC tournament title? Granted, Duke and North Carolina didn’t have a lot to gain in Atlanta, but it’s not the first time the Seminoles have turned Tobacco Road upside down this season. Leonard Hamilton’s club beat North Carolina 90-57 at home Jan. 14, then won at Duke 76-73 a week later. It’s the first time in 16 seasons that somebody has recorded two victories over both Duke and North Carolina in the same season. That’s some pretty heady stuff. The trick now for Florida State is playing that way in the March tournament that counts.

Who to watch: Florida State senior forward Bernard James served six years in the Air Force, including deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar. Now 27, the 6-10 James has been as valuable to his basketball team as he was to his country. An All-ACC Defensive Team selection, James ranks third in the ACC with 76 blocked shots, while averaging 10.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. He will be honored at the Final Four along with Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt and presented with the Most Courageous Award by the United States Basketball Writers Association.

Why to watch: St. Bonaventure is back in the NCAA tournament for the first time since a scandal rocked the university during the 2002-03 season. The Bonnies played an ineligible player that season after a junior-college transfer was admitted to the university with a welding degree and no associate’s degree. The fallout included the firing of coach Jan van Breda Kolff and the resignation of the athletic director and school president. A few months later, Bill Swan, the president of the university’s board of trustees, committed suicide and left a note apologizing for the pain he caused St. Bonaventure as well as his family and friends. The next four seasons saw the Bonnies win a combined 24 games, but coach Mark Schmidt was hired in 2007 and has steadily led the program back to respectability. St. Bonaventure won its first Atlantic 10 tournament championship last Sunday.

What they’re saying: “Andrew (Nicholson) is the player of the year, so he does what players of the year do, and that’s put the team on their back and kind of sail the ship.” -- St. Bonaventure guard Matthew Wright

“We’re definitely expecting a punch right out of the gate. We’re going to throw one ourselves.” -- Florida State forward Bernard James

Around the rim: Florida State is ranked sixth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.381) and seventh in blocked shots (5.9 per game). … In the Seminoles’ past four games, they’re shooting 50 percent (34-of-68) from 3-point range and keeping their opponents to 29.2 percent (26-of-89) from behind the line. … The Bonnies received quite a send-off before leaving their campus in western New York. Schmidt said it seemed like 15,000 of the 20,000 people who live in the Allegheny community lined the roads. “They let the kids out of schools, and we had our bus go through all the little towns, by all the elementary schools, all the businesses, and it was special,” Schmidt said. … Nicholson, a senior forward and the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, has been on a tear. He averaged 25.3 points and 11.5 rebounds in his final eight conference games.

ATLANTA -- North Carolina freshman P.J. Hairston was sure his shot was going in.

He got a good look. It felt good coming off his hand. It had a good line.

And although he said it was “the worst feeling in the world” when his game-tying 3-point attempt thudded off the back of the rim -- securing Florida State’s 85-82 victory in the ACC tournament championship Sunday at Philips Arena -- it didn’t take him long to regain his confidence.

“I feel like my shot is back,” the freshman said in the locker room about a half-hour later, as the Seminoles were still celebrating on the court. “And I’m going to be very dangerous over the next couple of weeks.”

The Tar Heels hope so. If they can take any solace in having their nine-game winning streak broken, it’s in the fact that it was Hairston, who hadn’t scored in double-figures since New Year’s Day, who helped fuel their comeback.

Trailing by 16 points in the first half to the team that had embarrassed them by 33 points in January, and still down by nine points at halftime, the Tar Heels said they were determined to flip their passive nature in the second half. Even though they weren't playing starting forward John Henson, who was in uniform but missed his second straight game because of a sprained left wrist, they wanted to prove again that they were tough enough to overcome adversity.

“At halftime, the coaches got into us a little bit,’’ said point guard Kendall Marshall, who finished with 15 points and nine assists. “They basically said, ‘We have a choice. We can pack our bags up, or we can go out there and play. We’re in the championship game as it is, so why not try to win it? And I think the players took that to heart.”

Hairston said he did.

When he checked in with 15:30 left, he said he was focused on playing with more intensity, more fortitude.

And with his team trailing by 11, he played with more accuracy, too, burying three 3-pointers in less than a three-minute span to cut his team's deficit to seven points.

It was a Hairston that hadn't been seen for months; as the slumping-to-that-point sharpshooter had buried only 7 of his 45 3-point attempts in regular-season ACC play, and was 1-for-5 in the league tournament.

But Sunday, “I was getting a rhythm, I was getting good passes for my shot,’’ Hairston said. “I was spotting up, Kendall was coming down the court, finding me in transition. And the 3s I hit were big for the team. And that’s all I wanted to do was help my team win this game.”

And he got his chance.

With 3.3 seconds left -- after FSU’s Deividas Dulkys buried two free throws to give the Seminoles an 85-82 cushion -- UNC set up a last pay, with Tyler Zeller (19 points, 12 rebounds) inbounding from the midcourt sideline.

Teammates Harrison Barnes (23 points, 7 rebounds), Reggie Bullock and Hairston were the options, and with the other two covered, Zeller passed to Hairston. The wing took two dribbles toward the arc, got some separation from FSU guard Luke Loucks, and launched.

“It was right on line, and when I let it go, I knew it was going in,’’ he said.

But even though it didn’t, it was an important game for Hairston, who finished with 13 points on 3-for-9 shooting (3-for-7 on 3-pointers). Because it renewed his belief that he can be a key factor in the NCAA tournament. And it reinforced the confidence of those around him.

“P.J. has such a pure stroke, that every time he shoots it, I think it’s going in,’’ Marshall said. “… When you have a player that can shoot the ball the way he can, you have faith in him. And to see him really shoot the ball today, that’s great for our team.”

Follow Robbi Pickeral on Twitter at @bylinerp.

ATLANTA – Florida State hasn’t looked at any of the film from its 33-point victory over North Carolina on Jan. 14.

“When you get big blowout wins like that, it’s probably not the best idea to go back and watch; you might get a sense of comfort, or forget that we have to play hard – or what got us that 33-point lead,’’ forward Bernard James said. “So we just put that one behind us, and chalked it up to Carolina not being ready.”

He knows the Tar Heels will be this time.

The Seminoles downright embarrassed the UNC two months ago, beating the Tar Heels on the boards, holding them to 37 percent shooting. The 90-57 rout marked the most lopsided loss of the Roy Williams era, and it was so irritating/befuddling/maddening that Williams and most of the team left the court early – leaving three walk-ons and two reserves to finish the game.

Since then, the Tar Heels have lost only once, to Duke on a buzzer-beater.

Since then, the Seminoles have lost three times, but won three games with last-second heroics.

"We can't necessarily worry about the games that we've played prior to this game coming up,’’ FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. “Each game takes on a different personality and I'm sure the team that we played in Tallahassee will not be the team we play on Sunday."

UNC will be competing for its first ACC title since 2008; FSU will be vying for its first ACC title, period.

A few things to watch in the 1 p.m. EST showdown at Philips Arena:

WILL UNC’S JOHN HENSON PLAY?

The ACC Defensive Player of the Year sat out Saturday’s semifinal victory over NC State after spraining his left wrist during Friday’s quarterfinal win over Maryland.

His status will once again be a game-time decision – and his potential absence will hurt.

James, a former Air Force sergeant and all a member of the ACC’s All-Defense team, is a load for anyone to handle, and if Henson can’t go, James would probably match up with UNC’s James Michael McAdoo. The Tar Heels freshman has been more confident and aggressive lately, but got he into foul trouble during Saturday’s game against the Wolfpack.

3-POINTERS

One of the reasons FSU was so successful against UNC last time was Deividas Dulkys, who shot 8-for-10 from behind the 3-point arc and scored a career-high 32 points.

The Seminoles senior hasn’t approached anything close to that since (with 12 points being his high), but you get the point: UNC (which also lost to Duke at home when the Blue Devils shot 14-for-36 on 3s) can’t afford to let an opposing team get hot.

The Seminole to watch: Michael Snaer. He’s shooting better than 40 percent from 3-point land for the season, and buried two of those aforementioned game-winners this season.

THAT COMPETITIVE FLARE

One of the reasons UNC lost so badly – and looked so listless in doing so – in the last meeting, according to players, was that they bought into their own preseason No. 1 hype and didn’t compete as hard as necessary. That shouldn’t be a problem Sunday.

The last time UNC was looking for revenge was last weekend, when it went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and pasted the Blue Devils, building a 24-point lead by halftime en route to the ACC regular-season title.

FSU, though, has plenty of motivation, too. Lots of folks wrote the Seminoles off when they lost to two Ivy League schools, then opened the ACC season with a 20-point defeat at Clemson. Since then, they’ve beaten UNC and Duke, but winning the league tournament would prove that the conference is more than a two-team league.

“This has been our goal since the beginning of the season, and we want to accomplish it,’’ Dulkys said.

Follow Robbi Pickeral on Twitter at @bylinerp.

ATLANTA -- About 45 minutes after Florida State's thrilling 62-59 win over Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament, Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton shared a special moment with one of his most well-respected counterparts.

While standing outside FSU's locker room, Hamilton was greeted by a smiling Mike Krzyzewski, who had just watched Hamilton's Seminoles best his Blue Devils in a tournament he basically owns. Coach K congratulated Hamilton and praised his team.

As Hamilton delivered his thanks, Krzyzewski briefly paused, giving Hamilton one last look that read, "Hell of a team."

That look was nothing new for Hamilton. He's been getting it from opposing coaches for a few years, it's just taken those outside of the ACC some time to acknowledge them.

Interestingly enough, national respect isn’t exactly flowing for the third-winningest ACC program over the past seven years.

A Florida State team that won a school-record 12 conference games during the regular season and is line for a top-4 seed in this year's NCAA tournament shouldn't be overlooked like it is.

"Because we have not been at the top -- been No. 1 or No. 2 -- we haven't gotten a lot of recognition," Hamilton said. "We've been moving our program along for quite some time, it's just that you guys have just started to notice."

As FSU prepares to capture its first ACC tournament title (in only its second championship appearance), it does so in a totally different place than it was months ago. FSU has won 17 of 20 games and is looking to take the season series against tournament top seed North Carolina -- an improbable thought midway through the season.

FSU struggled to find itself and players say there was a disconnect between guards and bigs. Forward Bernard James said selfishness ruled at times, destroying the "team" and leaving individuals.

"We'd go out and try to make spectacular plays one-on-one and that didn't work for us and that's why we got drummed by teams early in the season," James said.

Drummed as in losing by 18 to Florida and 20 to Clemson and losing 6 of 10 games from the end of November to the beginning of January.

The Clemson whooping changed everything, James said. Players and coaches gathered shortly after to speak candidly about how things weren't working. Slackers were called out and even coaches received constructive criticism from players.

Guards were told they were shooting too much and big men were called lazy in the ultimate open forum.

"Everybody knew what the other guy next to him was thinking," James said. "We identified our problems and everybody worked toward fixing them. That's what brought us to the point we are now."

Two games after the catastrophe at Clemson, FSU pounded UNC 90-57. Two games later, the Noles shocked Duke at Cameron Indoor.

Now, Florida State is a win away from breaking new ground … again.

Even if FSU loses Sunday, it's obvious that the Noles aren’t going away in the ACC. Behind the UNC-Duke current, FSU has been tirelessly working to demolish the notion that the ACC is a two-team league.

"At Florida State, we haven't thought that way in a long time," James said. "It's been about four or five years since they thought that the ACC was a two-team conference.

"This year, we've put ourselves in a really good position to show the rest of the world that the ACC is not a two-team conference."

Added forward Xavier Gibson: "We're coming in there and breaking Tobacco Road up a little bit -- mixing it up -- and that's what we came to do."

A win Sunday will likely bring more onto FSU’s bandwagon, but the Seminoles aren't worried about that because they don’t have time to worry about impressing outsiders.

For Hamilton, it’s all about getting the best out of his players and making sure they play and win for themselves.

"We have to consistently keep doing it and maybe we'll crack into that area that you guys call respect," he said.

ATLANTA – According to North Carolina coach Roy Williams, star forward John Henson was feeling better Saturday after spraining his left wrist Friday.

But still not well enough to play during the Tar Heels' ACC tournament semifinal win over NC State.

And his status for Sunday’s championship game against Florida State will again be a game-time decision.

“He said today that he feels considerably better than he did yesterday,’’ Williams said after UNC’s 69-67 victory. “Now, is it going to improve at that same rate by tomorrow? I personally have my doubts, but we’ll just go with the same policy, the same procedure, tomorrow.”

Saturday, UNC’s procedure was to tape the wrist in the locker room once the team arrived at Philips Arena, and judge how Henson felt gripping a basketball, and trying to dribble it and catch it.

“If he had any pain or he felt uncomfortable, then we weren’t going to play him,’’ Williams said. “If he didn’t have pain or didn’t feel very uncomfortable, I was going to let him warm up, and then watch him as closely as I could and make the determination of whether he would be effective. And it didn’t get to that stage because John didn’t feel very comfortable.

“If it had been the Final Four, I think he probably would have played. But … that’s not Ol’ Roy stating anything about this tournament, that’s just a fact.”

Without Henson, freshman forward James Michael McAdoo started; he finished with 9 points but was in foul trouble most of the second half.

Follow Robbi Pickeral on Twitter at @bylinerp.