North Carolina teams are known to be effective rebounders. This one? It's not known for its height or rebounding.

But the Tar Heels were downright dominant on the glass, grabbing 13 offensive boards that led to 24 second-chance points in a 96-85 win over Florida State on Monday night.

Jamir Watkins finished with 26 points on 7 of 12 shooting and 9 of 10 from the free-throw line. It was the senior's ninth game this season with 20 or more points.

But UNC had 35 rebounds to FSU's 21. The Seminoles had no offensive boards in the first half although they had four in the second half.

"It's obvious what our Achilles' heel was tonight was our inability to keep them off the boards," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "In all of our research and our preparation for the game, Carolina had not been one of the better rebounding teams in the league this year. ... Getting 24 points off of second-chance points, a lot of that was because they had 13 offensive rebounds."

FSU (16-12, 7-10 ACC) opened with the energy that had been often lacking in the first half of games. The Seminoles were efficient on the offensive end, shooting 62.5 percent, but the defense — and defensive rebounding — was often absent as the Tar Heels led 49-43.

Malique Ewin picked up his second foul with 7 minutes until halftime and UNC quickly racked up eight offensive boards. In the time that Ewin was out — followed by an injury scare where he went back to the locker room for a few minutes — UNC was able to gain significant separation and take a double-digit lead. Ewin returned with 15:12 to go.

During a timeout in the second half, Ewin stood and put his arms around two managers while avoiding putting pressure on his right foot. One manager gave him a long sleeve gold warmup shirt during the timeout at the 11:37 mark, ending his night.

"He didn't turn his ankle — I can't give you a real assessment," Hamilton said. "Some soreness in his foot. I'm sure they'll have an MRI tomorrow. He tried to go back in."

Watkins had 18 first-half points to keep the Seminoles in it. This was the offensive production FSU desperately needed in the first half, something that had been lacking in the eight prior games, but there wasn't enough cohesion on the defensive end or fight on the defensive glass.

With Ewin out, FSU turned to Alier Maluk often. He struggled in the first half but played better in the second half, grabbing a few offensive boards and finishing with seven points and three rebounds. Maluk played 21 minutes, by far a season-high.

"Alier has really been improving all year long," Hamilton said. "When you think about it, he should still be in high school for his senior year. He's made tremendous progress. You don't see the hesitancy in his game that you saw earlier in the year."

Jerry Deng had 11 of his 16 points in the second half, making 4 of 6 shots from deep on the night. The Seminoles shot 10 of 19 from 3-point range, among their best outings of the season.

RJ Davis had 20 points and five assists for UNC (18-11, 11-6). Elliot Cadeau added 10 points and seven assists.

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FSU finishes February with a 3-4 record. A stretch of three games in six days is now complete with back-to-back losses at Louisville and to UNC.

The Seminoles had just three turnovers in the first half. They finished with seven.

UNC shot 10 of 26 (38.5 percent) from 3-point range.

FSU plays at Duke on Saturday at 7 p.m. FSU will also play at Virginia on March 4.

The Seminoles will honor their seniors before the final home game on March 8 against SMU. Hamilton will also be honored postgame.

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