Florida State men's basketball continued its dominance of NC State at home and pumped life into its slim postseason hopes with a victory Tuesday night at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center.

The Seminoles defeated the Wolfpack 90-83 in front of 4,727 fans, marking their sixth straight victory over NC State in Tallahassee, dating back to the 2016 season.

The Seminoles (15-13, 9-8 ACC) shot a season-best in conference play at 59.7%. NC State (17-11, 9-8) lost despite shooting 48% from the 3-point line.

Jamir Watkins led a balanced scoring attack for the Seminoles with 19 points, while Primo Spears added 14 points and six assists and Cam Cohren added 11 points.

Chandler Jackson finished with nine points, while Darin Green Jr., Baba Miller and Jalen Warley each had eight. Miller also added seven rebounds. De'Ante Green finished with seven points.

“I thought that we moved the ball and executed very well,” FSU men's basketball head coach Leonard Hamilton said postgame.

“Everybody was involved in the first half and we had some guys that made some plays.”

Jayden Taylor led NC State with 24 points, while Casey Morsell added 19 points and DJ Horne finished with 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting.

A 41-33 halftime lead ended up giving FSU enough separation to come ahead despite being outscored by one in the second half.

The Seminoles' point total was the highest in a game since Feb. 3 in a 101-92 loss to Louisville and the most in a win since a 91-75 victory over North Florida on Dec. 19, 2023.

The Wolfpack last won in Tallahassee in January 2015. NC State holds a slim 32-31 lead in the all-time series.

FSU is 6-1 when scoring 90 points or more.

"The first half, I thought both teams came out swinging, a lot of energy, a lot of aggressiveness on both sides," Hamilton said.

Updating FSU basketball in ACC Standings

FSU entered the night in ninth place in the conference and moved into a three-way tie for seventh in the ACC.

The Seminoles are looking to keep pace for a fourth-place finish in the ACC, securing a double-bye in the ACC Tournament.

FSU is tied with Pittsburgh and NC State and half a game behind Syracuse (10-8) in the pursuit of Clemson and Wake Forest (10-7), who are tied for fourth.

The Demon Deacons had a one-game lead over Clemson entering Tuesday's play but dropped a road contest to lowly Notre Dame. Wake Forest had come off a victory over Duke last weekend, showing that nothing is given day-to-day in the ACC.

Sitting at No. 93 in the Net Rankings entering the contest, the Seminoles have to likely win the ACC Tournament to have a chance at the NCAA Tournament. A deep run would likely be needed for the NIT Tournament invitation.

So the conference standings and better matchups will be important for FSU.

"The ACC is a conference where 70% of the games are decided by four points or less," Hamilton said.

"... As we wind down the season, you have very little room for error. Everybody's playing for a spot in the ACC tournament."

Jamir Watkins' consistency

While FSU had a well-balanced scoring attack and shot an ACC-game-best 59.7% from the field, the team once again relied on Watkins to be the leading scorer.

He led the way with his 19 points on a very efficient 8-of-11 from the field, despite only getting to the free throw line three times.

“He’s a jack of all trades,” NC State head coach Kevin Keatts said of Watkins. "He's a rebounding guy and rises up and makes the three every now and then. He's really good in transition and gets an offensive rebound and he knows how to score around the basket.”

Watkins has scored in double-figures in 14 straight games and 22 of FSU's 28 games this season.

"He's being the best version of himself," Hamilton said of Watkins. "He knows he can take the ball to the basket. People are dropping off of him. They actually tried to right hand away from him tonight, for whatever reason. ...

"They don't realize he's pretty good going left as well. But people have given him a lot of attention. And what makes the consistency of him so, so impressive is that in their game plan in this scouting report, he's a target by the opponents."

Slowing down D.J. Burns

Last season, D.J. Burns torched FSU for 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting, to go along with four rebounds and three assists despite being limited to 19 minutes due to foul trouble.

It was a different story this season, as the 6-foot-9, 275-pound center was a non-factor, finishing scoreless, shooting 0-of-2 from the field with two assists and two fouls.

Burns entered the game averaging 12.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists on 51% shooting for the season. He was a non-factor, playing just four minutes in the second half and 12 for the game.

It was the first time Burns was held scoreless this season, following a 19-point performance against Boston College last time out.

"You have to give him his respect," Hamilton said. "Because he's a challenging player to defend. ...

"He's unbelievably skilled and when you let him catch the ball in certain areas, you're almost helpless. You can't double-team or trap him because he's such a great passer.

So we gave him all the respect that we could possibly give a guy."

Up next:

FSU begins its final season stretch with two road games, starting with Georgia Tech on the road at noon Saturday in Atlanta (ESPN2).

The Seminoles close out the regular season with a Tuesday, March, 5 road game against Pittsburgh (9 p.m., ESPN2) and a home game next Saturday, March 9 vs. rival Miami (4 p.m.).

Reach Ehsan Kassim at ekassim@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter at @Ehsan_Kassim. You can also follow our coverage on Facebook (NoleSports), Instagram (tlhnolesports) and YouTube channel (NoleSportsTD).

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Jamir Watkins, Primo Spears lead FSU men's basketball over NC State