Virginia Tech had no answer for Jamir Watkins. Then again, not many teams have the last few months.

Watkins scored a career-best 34 points on 9 of 15 shooting while pulling down 11 rebounds in FSU’s 86-76 win over VT on Wednesday in the ACC Tournament at Washington, D.C. He has scored in double figures in 18 straight games, including 10 consecutive games with 15 or more points.

The junior forward did a lot of everything: He drove to the basket with consistent success, made 14 of 17 free-throw attempts, 2 of 4 3-pointers and also had four steals. Watkins also scored his 1,000th point on Wednesday.

Watkins had the most points for an FSU player in a single game since Xavier Rathan-Mayes had 35 points in a pair of games in the 2014-15 season.

Jalen Warley added 18 points on 8 of 10 shooting, all of them from inside the arc. He added four assists and three rebounds. It’s the best back-to-back games Warley has had this season, following up the 13 points against Miami on Saturday.

FSU (17-15, 11-10 ACC) used an 11-0 run late to extend its lead over VT to 68-58 with 3:03 to go and maintained control the rest of the way. The Seminoles will play No. 1 seed North Carolina on Thursday at noon (ESPN) in an ACC Tournament quarterfinal.

While FSU had 10 steals, there were also far too many lapses in defensive effort and ill-advised fouls.

Virginia Tech (18-14, 10-11) lives and dies by the 3-pointer and made just 2 of 13 from beyond the arc in the second half. Sean Pedulla fouled out with 24 points, but the Hokies also shot 10 of 28 after halftime.

When VT tried to press and foul quickly late, FSU was able to make the free throws. The Seminoles finished 25 of 30 (83.3 percent) from the line.

The Seminoles shot 29 of 54 (53.7 percent) from the floor but just 3 of 13 (23.1 percent) from beyond the arc.

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