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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- With a head of steam and the ball in his hand, Ty Lawson delivered a running, one-handed dagger -- a buzzer-beating 3-pointer -- lifting No. 5 North Carolina to an 80-77 victory over Florida State.

Tyler Hansbrough set up Lawson's heroic shot forcing a shot clock violation when he stepped out to defend FSU guard Toney Douglas. The turnover gave the Tar Heels the ball with 3.2 seconds remaining.

"I was going to dribble the ball as fast as I can and shoot it," said Lawson, who was surprised the Seminoles provided little defensive resistance. "I though they were going to deny me the ball."

Lawson finished with a team-high 21 points and Danny Green added 20 on a night when the Tar Heels (18-2, 4-2 ACC) prevailed despite only eight points from Hansbrough, who was plagued by foul trouble.

"We came through when we needed to," said Hansbrough.

Douglas very nearly carried the Seminoles (16-5, 3-3) to their biggest victory to date, scoring 24 of his season-high 32 points in the second half. The senior guard scored 22 of those points over the final 12:34 as Florida State erased a nine-point deficit.

Florida State senior forward Uche Echefu added 14 points.

Douglas took charge shortly after FSU freshman Luke Loucks' layup off a Wayne Ellington turnover gave the Seminoles a 64-63 lead with 8:27 remaining. Douglas helped hold the Tar Heels at bay, scoring 12 consecutive points for his team at one point.

North Carolina tied the game twice in the final 5:16 and took a short-lived 73-71 lead on two Deon Thompson free throws with 3:27 to go. Douglas outscored the Tar Heels 6-1 over the next 1:24 as the Seminoles built a 77-74 lead down the stretch.

Green, largely held in check after scoring 14 first half points, gave the Heels life when he stole a Douglas pass intended for Derwin Kitchen. His breakaway and the ensuing free throw tied the game for the seventh at final time -- 77-77 -- with 1:12 to go.

Florida State had two cracks at the game-winning shot, but Douglas missed a 3-pointer, then turned the ball over on the shot clock violation. It would be the only chance Lawson and the Tar Heels would need.

The game certainly didn't unfold as a potential thriller from the start. It took North Carolina nearly 12 minutes at the start to find its offensive footing following a week-long layoff; which may have played into its season-high 21 turnovers which the Seminoles converted into 33 points.

Trailing by as many as nine, North Carolina went on a 32-9 run to close the half, building a 46-35 lead.

The Tar Heels did most of their damage in that closing stretch after Hansbrough was summoned to the bench with 6:29 to play after collecting his third foul. FSU led 26-22 at that point and a Douglas jumper pushed the lead to six before UNC went on a tear.

Ellington capped a 6-0 spurt with a pull-up jumper that tied the game at 28-28 before the Noles countered with a pair of Echefu free throws and a Douglas steal and layup. UNC rattled off the next 13 points -- seven by Ellington -- for a 41-32 lead.

NORTH CAROLINA (18-2, 4-2)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Ellington 37 3-13 6-7 1-2 1 3 14

Hansbrough 26 4-9 0-0 3-5 0 4 8

Lawson 37 6-7 8-9 4-9 4 3 21

Green 32 6-13 4-5 3-7 3 4 20

Thompson 32 2-10 4-6 3-7 1 4 8

Frasor 8 0-1 0-0 1-1 1 1 0

Drew II 3 0-0 1-2 0-0 1 1 1

Graves 3 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Davis 22 3-8 2-3 4-8 0 0 8

Totals 200 24-63 25-32 21-42 11 20 80

Percentages: FG .381, FT .781.

3-point goals: 7-19, .368 (Green 4-7, Ellington 2-8, Lawson 1-2, Graves 0-1, Frasor 0-1).

Team rebounds: 3.

Blocked shots: 4 (Davis 2, Frasor, Green).

Turnovers: 21 (Green 6, Ellington 4, Thompson 2, Hansbrough 2, Frasor 2, Lawson 2, Davis, Drew II, Graves).

Steals: 7 (Green 6, Ellington).

FLORIDA STATE (16-5, 3-3)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Singleton 27 3-6 0-2 1-2 2 3 8

Echefu 26 5-8 2-2 3-8 1 2 14

Alabi 28 3-5 0-2 2-6 0 3 6

Kitchen 29 2-6 0-0 0-3 2 2 4

Douglas 37 9-20 13-14 1-2 1 3 32

Gibson 5 1-3 0-0 1-2 0 1 2

DeMercy 9 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Loucks 17 2-3 0-1 1-1 5 2 4

Dulkys 9 1-5 0-0 0-1 0 2 3

Reid 13 2-3 0-0 2-4 0 5 4

Totals 200 28-60 15-21 13-34 11 25 77

Percentages: FG .467, FT .714.

3-point goals: 6-16, .375 (Echefu 2-3, Singleton 2-3, Dulkys 1-4, Douglas 1-5, DeMercy 0-1).

Team rebounds: 5.

Blocked shots: 4 (Singleton 2, Echefu, Alabi).

Turnovers: 19 (Loucks 4, Reid 4, Douglas 4, Kitchen 3, Alabi 2, Singleton, DeMercy).

Steals: 12 (Kitchen 3, Loucks 3, Alabi 2, Douglas 2, Dulkys, Reid).

North Carolina 46 34 -- 80

Florida State 35 42 -- 77

Officials--Karl Hess, Mike Eades, Brian Dorsey. A--11,333.