CHAPEL HILL - When point guard Ty Lawson winced to the bench with less than two minutes left in Tuesday's first half, his North Carolina teammates barely blinked.

Been there. Done that.

Did it again -- this time, a 90-77 victory over Florida State.

"I was worried about Ty ... but I wasn't worried about us," said senior Quentin Thomas, who scored eight points in his final game at the Smith Center. "With all the injuries and everything we've been through this year, we're used to adversity."

Lawson, still wearing a brace on his left ankle, returned from his left hip pointer early in the second half and finished with 10 points and three assists off the bench in his second game back. After being sidelined almost four weeks with an ankle sprain, "I'll play through anything -- any pain, anything like that," he said.

With only one game left in the regular season, his ability to return was a good sign for the top-ranked Tar Heels (28-2, 13-2 ACC), who want to ease the speedy sophomore back into the mix in time for a postseason run.

But the fact that they didn't really need him to record their seventh straight victory was a sign of how much other players have improved their games during his absence, and the bevy of injuries this season.

"I think this team has grown so much with Ty being gone, and just everybody stepping up and coming out and contributing every night in a positive way," said junior Marcus Ginyard, who chipped in with 13 points. "And just knowing that, having that in the back of your mind every night ... is just a great thing for this team. Because we're going to need everybody to be a positive influence late in the season."

The Seminoles (17-13, 6-9) opened the game with a 7-0 run. But UNC chipped away thanks in part to a career-high four points from walk-on Surry Wood -- who started the game in place of power forward Deon Thompson because it was Senior Night.

With the score tied 24-24 with 4:36 left before the break, UNC finally pulled away when Lawson's 3-pointer began a 20-8 run that gave the Tar Heels a 44-32 lead at halftime. It was an ugly stretch, though, with 11 fouls called and Lawson sustaining his latest injury when he was elbowed in the hip while double-teaming Ralph Mims.

But Carolina never trailed after that.

Lawson returned to the game with 14:10 left and eventually made two field goals during an 8-0 run that put FSU away for good.

The Tar Heels shot 70.4 percent in the second half -- that, with forward Tyler Hansbrough (20 points, nine rebounds) failing to score his first second-half field goal until the 7:40 mark, and with guard Wayne Ellington shooting 2-of-9 for the game.

Guard Jason Rich led the Seminoles with 27 points.

"We have been fairly successful when we keep the game at a pace of about 70 [points]," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said, "but Carolina scrambled the game with their run-and-jumps, and trapping our ball screens, and I didn't think we responded very well to it."

In the end, the Seminoles were outrebounded by 15 and had only eight assists -- with eight turnovers.

Meanwhile, UNC coach Roy Williams kept his record as a head coach on Senior Night perfect (21-0).

Been there, done that.