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North Carolina defeats Florida State in OT

Feb 3, 2008 - 11:37 PM TALLAHASSEE, Florida (Ticker) -- Florida State could keep Tyler Hansbrough down for only so long.

Hansbrough fought off a harassing defense to score 22 points Sunday as fourth-ranked North Carolina avoided an upset with an 84-73 overtime victory over the Seminoles in an Atlantic Coast Conference contest.

Florida State executed a game plan in which it banged and bumped the big men as much as possible. As a result, Hansbrough was held without a field goal until midway through the second half.

However, he scored nine points in the final 10 minutes of the second half and added eight in the overtime. Hansbrough also grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.

North Carolina (21-1, 6-1 ACC) overcame the loss of starting point guard Ty Lawson, who left in the first half with a high ankle sprain and did not return.

Lawson, who averages 14 points and six rebounds, scored only four points before being forced to the bench. There was no early indication as to the seriousness of the injury.

Without their floor general, the Tar Heels were forced into a half-court game they are not comfortable playing.

North Carolina still appeared to be control after Hansbrough's two free throws made it 66-58 lead with 2:10 left in regulation.

But the Seminoles (13-10, 2-6) ended the second half with a 9-1 run, forcing overtime on Ryan Reid's 3-pointer from the right corner with eight seconds remaining. It was the first 3-point attempt of Reid's career.

Hansbrough, however, hit two free throws to start the overtime, and the Tar Heels never trailed thereafter.

North Carolina hammered Florida State on the boards, outrebounding the Seminoles, 54-26, including 18-7 on the offensive end.

Jason Rich scored 22 points for Florida State, which stayed in the game despite shooting only 40 percent (28-of-70) The Seminoles overcame 34 percent shooting in the first half (11-of-32) to only trail, 31-29, at the intermission.

Hansbrough, the ACC's leading scorer and rebound, was held without a field goal until his jump hook gave the Tar Heels a 52-45 lead with 9:42 remaining.

Hansbrough was only 5-of-14 from the field but he did get the trio of players guarding him into foul trouble. The junior forward finished 12-of-14 from the line.

Three players fouled out for Florida State, including starting forwards Uche Echefu and Reid.

Overall, the Tar Heels made 27-of-33 free throws, as they were able to finally wear down the Seminoles with their superior strength inside.

Douglas Toney added 12 points for Florida State, but was just 3-of-20 from the field and missed a number of layups.

Danny Green added 19 points off the bench for the Tar Heels while Deon Thompson contributed 11 for North Carolina, which hosts archrival Duke on Wednesday.