Elliot Cadeau explains North Carolina's mindset after blowout ACC Tournament win over FSU

North Carolina had little trouble Thursday afternoon in their ACC Tournament opener, blowing the doors off Florida State 92-67 to advance to the semifinals on Friday.

Three players reached double figures with RJ Davis predictably leading the game in scoring with 18 poitns of his own. However, for UNC, it was his backcourt mate Elliot Cadeau who really stuffed the stat sheet in the very first ACC Tournament game of his career. He only scored eight points, but grabbed four rebounds and racked up six assists and three steals in the victory.

Afterwards, Cadeau even got the postgame interview as ESPN’s Jess Sims caught up with the rookie point guard after his terrific effort vs. the Seminoles. First, she asked what his approach was for this game.

“My mindset was just to play hard,” said Cadeau. “We really want to win this tournament, so I just wanted to do what I could to win this game.”

Sims noted that the whole team played with a fire in the FSU win and all seem to know their roles, and Cadaeu confirmed just how well this Carolina team fits together.

“I mean, it’s great. I haven’t ever played for a team like this in my life and just, for everybody to know their role and just for us to have the chemistry out on the court is crazy, and we’re really good.”

Part of why they’re really good is their focus. Sims asked if Cadeau and the team were more focused on one game at a time vs. looking ahead to a potential ACC title — at which he immediately jumped in to say that yes they are.

“Oh no. We’re definitely a One Game At A Time kind of team and just locked in. We’re going to be locked in for tomorrow.”

Tomorrow, Friday, the Tar Heels will get a date with the winner of the game after theirs between No. 4 seed Pittsburgh and No. 5 seed Wake Forest, both of which are still squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble and will be battling with some desperation both today and in tomorrow’s bout, whichever one of them makes it.