Florida State vs. UNC: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

Dealing with myriad injuries to several notable players, North Carolina was still able to thwart Florida State 78-74. The win moved the Tar Heels to 16-4 on the year and 6-1 in the ACC, while the Seminoles head home at 10-10 and 2-5 in conference play.

Carolina basketball's official account reported the final score from Chapel Hill:

Carolina's victory was its first since losing reserve forward Theo Pinson after suffering a broken foot, per C.L. Brown of ESPN.com. Pinson was part of a long list of players who missed the game, as Powell Latimer of the News & Record notes:

Despite not having much depth off the bench, Marcus Paige made up for the losses with 19 points and three assists. Brice Johnson also tallied 18 points and 14 rebounds to pace the Heels in the paint. Xavier Rathan-Mayes led all scorers with a career-high 35 points, but it wasn't enough for the Seminoles.

Johnson's production was crucial for UNC, but even he experienced a scare on the court after hitting the floor hard. Lauren Brownlow of Fox Sports pointed out the situation when Johnson went down:

He returned to the court and still produced, but the injury bug just appears to keep biting the Heels. Luckily, they have enough talent to remain one of the top teams in the country with Johnson and others stepping up.

Even with the slew of injuries, Carolina coach Roy Williams knew his team could show improvement in one category. Leading up to Saturday's game, Williams made it clear he wanted to see improved physicality out of his team.

"We’ve got to get tougher on the basketball court," Williams said, via Greg Barnes of Inside Carolina. "Mentally probably more so than physically. I don’t want anybody to go out and clobber anybody. That’s not the game."

ESPN College Basketball passed along one emphatic play from Johnson that showed toughness from the big man:

"

Brice Johnson with the impressive putback dunk! http://t.co/DgZQbjgyag UNC leads 65-61 w/ 4:35 left. FSU's Xavier Rathan-Mayes has 24 pts.

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) January 24, 2015"

The Heels showed some improvement early on in the matchup with FSU, opening up a large lead midway through the first half. However, they got away from that mentality and allowed the Seminoles to climb back, down just 35-31 at the half.

Carolina got back to that style in the second half, showing intensity under the basket and creating more scoring opportunities. The No. 2 team in the nation in rebounding beat the Noles on the boards, 36-35, and pulled away late in the game before Florida State made it much tighter at the end.

ESPN Stats & Info also points out another crucial part of the game where the Heels thrived:

UNC comes away still fighting for the top spot in the ACC behind only No. 2 Virginia with the one loss in conference this season. The next three games will be telling ones for Carolina, as it plays Syracuse, No. 10 Louisville and the Cavaliers consecutively.

On the other side, the Noles have an easier test ahead against Wake Forest at home, but need to start stringing together wins to remain competitive in the conference. The emergence of Rathan-Mayes will be a story to watch, but the program needs Montay Brandon or Devon Bookert to help pick it up off the canvas.

Follow @RCorySmith on Twitter.