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.