Florida State had little doubt about what awaited Sunday: a team bent on revenge.
"They've been waiting for this game since the last time we beat them by 33," Florida State forward Bernard James said.
Still, the Seminoles took control of the game in the first half, hitting North Carolina with runs of 8-0 and 9-1 to take a 47-31 lead with 2:45 to play before halftime. It gave Florida State enough margin to withstand the Tar Heels' inevitable second-half rally. The Seminoles shot 62.5 percent in the first half, including 7-for-13 from 3-point range.
"We knew we had to play better (than North Carolina)," James said. "That was the only way we would beat them, if we had more energy, (were) more intense, more physical, and we were able to do that."
North Carolina coach Roy Williams would likely agree with James' assessment. In the Tar Heels' 19 games against ACC opponents this season, Florida State was the only team to take a double-digit lead on them at any point of any game.
In the first half, "I was very ticked off," Williams said. "I was very disgusted, I was very upset. … I just thought they were so much more aggressive in the first half and they had so much more intensity than we had."
League praises event
ACC associate commissioner for men's basketball Karl Hicks called the tournament weekend in Atlanta "outstanding." He praised FanFest, which the league took a weather risk on by staging it outdoors next to Philips Arena, and said that arena staff was courteous. He named five league athletic directors who were complimentary of the event.
"I'm real pleased," Hicks said. "I know my boss (commissioner John Swofford) is real pleased, which makes me happy."
The 2012 tournament was the sixth for which Atlanta has been the host city, but the first held at Philips. The bidding for tournaments is expected to become more competitive as the league expands its footprint by adding Syracuse and Pittsburgh. Atlanta Sports Council executive director Dan Corso said recently that Atlanta will bid for one or more tournaments between 2016 and 2021, which are the next available.
Henson sits
North Carolina forward and ACC defensive player of the year John Henson dressed for Sunday's game and took part in warmups, but did not play. Wiliams said he had one particular scenario in mind that he would have used Henson, who suffered a left-wrist injury on Friday: If the Tar Heels were ahead with only a few seconds left and Florida State was inbounding the ball underneath its basket. Williams would have used him to defend the inbounds pass.
All-tournament team
The all-tournament first team, headed by MVP Michael Snaer from Florida State: Tyler Zeller and Kendall Marshall from North Carolina, Florida State's Luke Loucks and N.C. State's C.J. Leslie. The second team: North Carolina's Harrison Barnes, Florida State's Bernard James, N.C. State's Lorenzo Brown, Duke's Austin Rivers and Maryland's Terrell Stoglin.
Loucks set a championship game record with 13 assists, two more than the 11 recorded by Bobby Hurley for Duke in 1992. Marshall's 31 assists in three games set a tournament record, breaking former Tar Heel Ed Cota's 1999 record of 29.
Almost full
The arena (capacity 18,371) was about 95 percent full, as was the case for Saturday's semifinal games. Scattered tickets were available at the box office just prior to the game. A little less than one hour before tipoff, upper-bowl tickets were available on ticket re-sale website Stubhub for less than $20. The least expensive lower-bowl ticket was $59.
