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ATLANTA -- There will be no third consecutive ACC tournament championship. The conference scoring record will have to wait.

Those are givens. Cold hard facts. Nothing to lose any sleep over.

But a couple of questions kept some North Carolina coaches, players and fans awake last night. When will ACC Player of the Year Ty Lawson come back? And what happens to the Tar Heels' NCAA tournament seeding now?

Those questions came up after Toney Douglas scored 27 points to lead fourth-seeded Florida State to a 73-70 victory over top-seeded North Carolina in an ACC tournament semifinal Saturday afternoon at the Georgia Dome.

Douglas, the runner-up in the player-of-the-year voting, scored 16 of his points in the second half and hit a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left to give the Seminoles the lead. Florida State then forced a turnover, Derwin Kitchen hit two free throws to make it 73-70 and North Carolina missed two 3-point shots in the final 3 seconds.

"What made the difference was we got the (defensive) stops during the period of time that we had to make shots," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "That's what has happened so much in the ACC. The games are in doubt down to the last 3 or 4 minutes, and the team that normally makes the plays at the end of the game pulls it out. We were very fortunate that we made the plays when the game was on the line."

Kitchen and Solomon Alabi scored 11 points apiece for the Seminoles (25-8), who advance to the ACC championship game for the first time. They'll take on third-seeded Duke (27-6) at 1 p.m. today, a few hours before the NCAA tournament brackets are announced on this Selection Sunday.

It will be a long wait for the Tar Heels (28-4), who won the last two ACC tournaments. The odds are still good that they'll play their first two NCAA games at the Greensboro Coliseum this week. But will they still go in as a No. 1 seed, or will they fall to a No. 2? And in what region of the bracket? And when will Lawson be back?

Wayne Ellington scored 24 points, and Tyler Hansbrough finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds against Florida State. But Lawson sat out his second straight game with an injured right big toe, and UNC clearly missed him.

Bobby Frasor and Larry Drew II filled in at point guard, and their combined stats included four assists, one turnover and 0-for-3 shooting.

Carolina also missed Danny Green, even though he played 32 minutes. The senior forward missed the final desperation 3-pointer, capping a miserable game. He shot 1-for-12 from the field, 0-for-5 from 3-point range and scored four points.

In two ACC tournament games, Green was 3-for-25 from the floor, 1-for-12 from 3-point range and scored a total of nine points. He came in averaging 14 points per game.

"I think you also make your own momentum as an individual," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "Whatever happened today should not have any effect on tomorrow. You have to be tough enough mentally to handle that. You've got to get in the gym and shoot more shots and watch the ball go in. "I have a great deal of confidence in Danny. He's played very well for us all year long, but he's had a difficult time these last two days."

North Carolina had a difficult time in the second half against the ACC's top defensive team. The Tar Heels led by as many as nine points in the first half, but they shot just 1-for-6 from 3-point range after halftime and committed four key turnovers.

The last was the most costly. Trailing 71-70 after Douglas' free throws, North Carolina tried to get the ball inside to Hansbrough with 20 seconds left. The Seminoles' Uche Echefu tipped the ball, and it ended up in Kitchen's hands.

Fouled immediately, Kitchen hit both ends of a one-and-one with 15.7 seconds to play.

Hansbrough finished his final ACC game two points shy of Duke alum J.J. Redick's conference scoring record, and now the Carolina senior is on course to pass the career milestone against a low-seeded team in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Who and where is something the Heels will learn today.

"There's no tomorrow now," Williams said. "The next time you feel this way at the end of a game, you're done."

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

FLORIDA STATE (25-8)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Echefu 24 1-6 0-0 5-8 1 3 2

Alabi 32 5-9 1-2 2-5 0 3 11

Kitchen 36 4-6 2-2 1-9 6 2 11

Douglas 38 10-18 4-5 1-4 4 1 27

Singleton 17 3-6 0-0 0-2 0 5 7

Gibson 6 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

DeMercy 11 0-0 0-2 0-0 1 1 0

Loucks 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Dulkys 13 3-7 0-0 0-0 2 2 9

Reid 18 2-5 2-4 3-7 0 1 6

Totals 200 28-57 9-15 14-38 14 19 73

Percentages: FG .491, FT .600.

Three-point goals: 8-20, .400 (Dulkys 3-6, Douglas 3-8, Kitchen 1-2, Singleton 1-3, Echefu 0-1).

Team rebounds: 3.

Blocks: 6 (Reid 2, Alabi 2, Gibson, Singleton).

Turnovers: 14 (Singleton 4, Douglas 3, Echefu 2, Dulkys 2, Gibson, Reid, Kitchen).

Steals: 3 (Kitchen 3).

NORTH CAROLINA (28-4)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS

Green 32 1-12 2-2 3-5 1 2 4

Thompson 22 5-8 2-2 3-5 1 2 12

Hansbrough 33 5-12 12-14 6-11 2 4 22

Frasor 33 0-1 2-4 0-2 1 4 2

Ellington 36 8-17 4-7 1-3 3 0 24

Drew 17 0-2 0-0 0-0 3 1 0

Davis 23 3-7 0-0 3-7 1 2 6

Zeller 4 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0

Totals 200 22-59 22-29 16-35 12 17 70

Percentages: FG .373, FT .759.

Three-point goals: 4-15, .267 (Ellington 4-9, Drew 0-1, Green 0-5).

Team rebounds: 1.

Blocks: 4 (Davis 2, Green, Thompson).

Turnovers: 7 (Hansbrough 3, Green, Zeller, Thompson, Frasor).

Steals: 11 (Hansbrough 5, Thompson 2, Davis, Drew, Green, Ellington).

Florida State 29 44 -- 73

North Carolina 32 38 -- 70

A--26,352. Officials--Jamie Luckie, Bryan Kersey, Sean Hull.