TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) RJ Davis had 20 points, Seth Trimble came off the bench to score 17 and North Carolina cruised to a 96-85 victory over Florida State on Monday night.
Davis made 5 of 9 shots with three 3-pointers and 7 of 8 free throws for the Tar Heels (18-11, 11-6 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won four in a row to pull within a half-game of Wake Forest and SMU for fourth place. The top four teams receive byes into the third round of the conference tournament. Trimble did his damage on 6-for-10 shooting with two 3-pointers.
Jae’Lyn Withers added 11 points for North Carolina and Elliot Cadeau, Ven-Allen Lubin and reserve Jalen Washington all scored 10. Cadeau had seven assists and Lubin grabbed seven rebounds.
Jamir Watkins had 26 points to lead the Seminoles (16-12, 7-10), who dropped into ninth place – a half-game behind Pittsburgh. The top nine seeds earn first-round byes.
Davis and Washington both had seven points in a balanced first-half attack as nine different Tar Heels scored in building a 49-43 lead. Watkins had 18 points at the break.
Drake Powell’s layup 90 seconds into the second half gave North Carolina the first double-digit lead at 55-45. Davis and Cadeau hit back-to-back 3-pointers, and the Tar Heels led 61-47 before the half was three minutes old.
Florida State closed within six points three times – the final one on a tip-in by Christian Nitu to make it 72-66 with 9:29 remaining. Davis answered with a 3-pointer and added two more baskets in a 15-5 run as the Tar Heels upped their advantage to 87-71.
North Carolina will host Miami and Florida State plays at No. 2 Duke on Saturday with three games left in the regular season.
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| TOP SCORERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
4
 |
R. Davis G | 20PTS | 2REB | 5AST | |
|
1
 |
J. Watkins G | 26PTS | 2REB | 2AST | |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| R. Davis | 20 | 2 | 5 | 2 |
| J. Withers | 11 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| V. Lubin | 10 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| E. Cadeau | 10 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| D. Powell | 7 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| S. Trimble | 17 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| J. Washington | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| C. Tyson | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| I. Jackson | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| J. Brown | – | – | – | – |
| E. Davis | – | – | – | – |
| R. Hawkins | – | – | – | – |
| J. Holbrook | – | – | – | – |
| D. Mayo Jr. | – | – | – | – |
| T. Claude | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 96 | 28 | 18 | 18 |
| STARTERS | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| J. Watkins | 26 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| D. Davis | 9 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| T. Bol Bowen | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| C. Jackson | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| M. Ewin | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
| BENCH | PTS | REB | AST | PF |
| J. Deng | 16 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| A. Maluk | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| J. Thomas | 5 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| A. Swinton | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| C. Nitu | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| B. Holt | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| J. Simpson | – | – | – | – |
| W. Mbatch | – | – | – | – |
| J. Jones | – | – | – | – |
| A. Rozakeas | – | – | – | – |
| J. Crawford | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 85 | 19 | 16 | 25 |