Associated Press

North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough (left) shoots over Florida State's Uche Echefu (center) and Julian Vaughn during Friday's game.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If and when North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson ever regains the explosion in his sprained left ankle, look out.

Nobody believes that Lawson has returned to his pre-injury form, but No. 1-ranked Carolina continues to cruise, beating Florida State 82-70 in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals at Charlotte Bobcats Arena for its ninth victory in a row and 30th of the season.

Conference player of the year Tyler Hansbrough had a team-high 22 points Friday for the Tar Heels, who also got 19 points from second-team All-ACC choice Wayne Ellington.

Lawson, making his first start since Feb. 3, did not score until 8:30 remained in the game but finished with eight points in 21 minutes.

"I still haven't seen him run past anybody with that explosion that he had beforehand," coach Roy Williams said. "I think, if anybody's seen us play, you've seen that happen before, but nobody has seen that happen in five weeks or six weeks, whatever it has been.

"At Duke the other night, he went in for a layup, and it was the first time I'd ever seen him miss a layup on the break because somebody caught him from behind and bothered him. I can't put a number on it but I know he's not 100 percent."

Lawson, a sophomore who played at Oak Hill Academy, said he hasn't felt the explosion in four games since returning March 1.

"It's really mental," he said, "but it's really different than a week or two ago. When I first came back, I wouldn't even try a lauyp. I was so cautious that I'd pull up. I think the only way you can get over it is to play. Today I took off on three layups."

The Tar Heels (30-2) were coming off a bye and facing a Florida State team that had played 24 hours earlier. However, the Seminoles (19-14) had momentum on their side, after winning five of their previous six games, including a 70-60 victory over Wake Forest in Thursday's first round.

"Their only loss [over that time] was at our place on senior night," Williams said, "and it's going to be tough to beat us on senior night a lot of the time."

Florida State senior Jason Rich was coming off a 22-point afternoon against Wake Forest and proceeded to score six quick points Friday as the Seminoles took an early 11-6 lead.

A Rich 3-pointer gave him nine points in just over 6¹₂ minutes and put the Seminoles ahead 14-13 with 13:24 remaining in the first half, but Carolina responded 13 seconds later with a 3-point play by Alex Stepheson and FSU never led again.

North Carolina subsequently was unable to score on seven straight possessions after extending its lead to 20-16, but the Seminoles failed to capitalize, committing four turnovers during that span.

Carolina went into halftime ahead 35-28 and that was without the benefit of a Hansbrough free throw. Hansbrough, a 6-foot-9, 250-pound junior, entered the game with an ACC-high 321 free-throw attempts but also had not gone to the line once Saturday in a 76-68 victory at Duke.

"I wasn't really focusing on it," Hansbrough said. "If I get the ball inside the way we attack, it just happens. It's not a situation where I constantly try to get fouled."

Order was restored in the second half, as Hansbrough shot 10 free throws, converting eight. Florida State cut the deficit to 35-30 on a Toney Douglas bucket to start the second half and it was still an eight-point game with 6¹₂ minutes left, but the Tar Heels "just had a little bit too much firepower for us," Seminoles' coach Leonard Hamilton said.

Rich had a game-high 23 points for his eighth game of 20 or more in the last 12, and he should get a chance to continue his streak, probably in the National Invitation Tournament. North Carolina has bigger things in mind, including a possible second NCAA title in four years.

"We've gotten to the point in the last week or so where Ty's been able to practice and Q's [senior Quentin Thomas] been able to practice," Williams said. "Q's got so much more confidence. We've been splitting the time in practice, so there shouldn't be any peaks and valleys when we substitute from now on."

FLORIDA STATE. (19-14)

Echefu 1-2 1-4 3, Reid 2-5 0-1 4, Mims 5-12 2-2 15, Douglas 7-17 0-1 18, Rich 9-15 2-2 23, Demercy 0-1 0-0 0, Vaughn 3-3 1-2 7, Zitani 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 6-12 70.

NORTH CAROLINA (30-2)

Ginyard 4-5 0-0 10, Thompson 2-6 1-2 5, Hansbrough 7-15 8-10 22, Lawson 2-4 4-6 8, Ellington 7-13 2-2 19, Thomas 2-2 0-0 4, Graves 1-1 0-0 3, Green 2-8 0-0 4, Stepheson 3-3 1-4 7. Totals 30-57 16-24 82.

Halftime--North Carolina 35-28. 3-Point Goals--Florida St. 10-21 (Douglas 4-7, Rich 3-6, Mims 3-7, Echefu 0-1), North Carolina 6-13 (Ellington 3-5, Ginyard 2-2, Graves 1-1, Lawson 0-2, Green 0-3). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Florida St. 30 (Echefu 9), North Carolina 30 (Ginyard, Hansbrough 6). Assists--Florida St. 14 (Douglas 5), North Carolina 19 (Ginyard 4). Total Fouls--Florida St. 20, North Carolina 19. A--20,035.