By Scott Haynes, College Basketball Senior Editor

Thursday, March 3rd, 9:00 p.m. (et).

FACTS & STATS: Site: Dean E. Smith Center (21,750) -- Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Television: Jefferson Pilot. Home Record: Florida St. 8-7, North Carolina 13-0. Away Record: Florida St. 3-7, North Carolina 8-2. Neutral Record: Florida St. 0-3, North Carolina 3-1. Conference Record: Florida St. 3-11, North Carolina 12-2. Series Record: North Carolina leads, 32-8.

GAME NOTES: With their sights set squarely on the ACC title, the second-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels welcome the Florida State Seminoles to Chapel Hill for a conference showdown this evening from the Smith Center. Roy Williams' squad is closing in on the conference crown, as the team has won five straight games to maintain their lead over both Wake Forest and Duke at the top of the league standings. It hasn't been easy however, including Sunday's 85-83 nail- biter at Maryland. Florida State was supposed to be a much-improved team this season, but a rough go of it in ACC play has relegated this team to the bottom rung on the conference ladder. The Seminoles drag an ugly eight-game losing streak with them into Chapel Hill tonight and haven't posted a victory since January 26th. On Sunday, it was Clemson that got over on the 'Noles, 84-73. The Tar Heels will be trying to complete the regular season sweep of FSU, after posting an 81-60 rout in Tallahassee on February 6th.

Despite shooting a respectable 48.4 percent from the floor in the second half, the Seminoles were outdone by a scorching performance by Clemson, which drained 62.5 percent of its shots over the final 20 minutes to distance itself from FSU. The Seminoles got 15 points from Al Thornton, while Adam Waleskowski and Todd Galloway chipped in with 13 and 12 points, respectively. However, leading scorer Von Wafer took just four shots in 17 minutes of action and finished with a disappointing four points in the loss. Not an offensive juggernaut by any means, FSU will definitely struggle if Wafer isn't getting involved. He is the only player on the team averaging double figures (13.8 ppg) and currently ranks third in the conference in three-pointers (career- high 65) and fourth in three-point accuracy (.414). A lack of scoring support behind Wafer has resulted in a mediocre 68.9 ppg this year for FSU.

The Tar Heels have been without the services of one of their stars for the last couple of games, but this is a team that can overcome that kind of problem. Rashad McCants has missed some time due to illness lately and although he averages a team-high 15.8 ppg, the team has assuaged that loss with serious scoring depth. Four others on the roster are averaging double digits for a team that leads the nation in scoring (89.7 ppg). Sean May has been a monster in the middle for UNC this year, averaging a double-double with 15.7 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Jawad Williams throws down 14.9 ppg, while converting 58.1 percent of his shots. Raymond Felton is one of the best court generals in the nation, adding 11.9 ppg, while doling out 7.2 apg. Marvin Williams is clearly the top newcomer in the ACC, as the freshman is netting 11.2 ppg, while grabbing 6.5 rpg. In the win over Maryland, May came up huge, scoring 22 points, grabbing 11 boards and blocking a Maryland shot with two seconds remaining to preserve the victory. It was May's sixth straight double-double. Jawad Williams poured in 21 points, David Noel added 12 points, while Felton finished with 10 points and 10 assists.

There is no margin for error for the Tar Heels, who are just a half game up on Wake Forest heading into this game. The team does get to close out the regular season with two home games and should take one step toward securing that league title with a rather easy win over the floundering Seminoles tonight.

Predicted Outcome

North Carolina 84, Florida State 63