TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- North Carolina forward Brice Johnson just turned in the game of his life Monday night -- 39 points and 23 rebounds in a 106-90 win over Florida State -- but all he wanted in exchange from coach Roy Williams was a simple favor.

"Coach, I got a question first," Johnson asked Williams in the media center before postgame interviews began. "Can we wear sweats tonight?"

"I don't know, y'all? Is 39 and 23 enough to let them wear sweats?" Williams replied with a wide smile while polling reporters -- the majority of whom immediately raised their hands. "Yeah ... yeah, I think so.

"And make sure to tell the guys that's the first time I've been nice to you in four years."

Johnson and teammates were headed back to Chapel Hill, N.C., in comfort -- instead of the usual suits and ties -- thanks to the senior's effort, which included career highs in points, field-goal attempts (16), rebounds, free throws and minutes.

Johnson, who had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds by halftime, exploded for 28 points and 12 boards in the second half to lift the sixth-ranked Tar Heels (14-2, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) after they led just 41-37 at the half. It was the first 20-20 game by a North Carolina player since Tyler Zeller in the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

Overshadowed only slightly was the night of North Carolina guard Marcus Paige, who dropped 30 points in the win -- marking the first time since 1998 the Tar Heels had two players score 30 or more points in a game.

Afterward, though, all eyes were on Johnson.

"It was a great night for me, but it was a team effort, a team win. It was needed because we were struggling for a bit there," said Johnson, whose team turned in its worst field-goal percentage of the season in the first half, 36 percent, before hitting a scorching 65 percent in the second half.

Included in that was the Tar Heels making 16 of their final 18 shots to close the game.

"We had great spacing on the floor, and I was really just in the right place at the right time," Johnson added. "I didn't really care about the points. I just wanted to win."

The victory was the Tar Heels' fifth straight against the Seminoles, who lost for the first time at home all season.

Florida State (10-4, 0-2) fell despite another near-heroic effort from point guard Xavier Rathan-Mayes, who continued to give North Carolina fits.

Rathan-Mayes exploded for a season-high 30 points -- one year after scoring a freshman school-record 35 in a 78-74 loss to the Tar Heels. The sophomore had 20 points Monday in the first half alone -- including a personal 11-0 run just before intermission -- as he shot the Seminoles back into the game.

When asked if he felt as if he couldn't miss during the first-half comeback, Rathan-Mayes didn't hesitate in his answer.

"Yeah," he said. "I definitely felt like I was in the zone."

But even that wasn't nearly enough in this one against the Tar Heels, who won their seventh straight.

After erasing a 14-point, first-half deficit and closing the gap at halftime, the Seminoles stormed out of the gate in the second half behind their dynamic freshmen, guards Dwayne Bacon and Malik Beasley.

The duo helped Florida State grab its first and only lead just three minutes into the second half when they scored 11 straight Seminoles points to put Florida State up 56-55. Bacon dropped six straight following a pair of buckets and two and-ones, and Beasley scored the next five points, including an and-one of his own on a fastbreak that had the Tucker Center rocking.

Johnson made sure the fun didn't last long.

The senior scored nine straight North Carolina points as the Seminoles' one-point lead quickly evaporated. That swing in momentum was aided by a bizarre series on defense by the Seminoles immediately after took they lead.

Florida State backup center Chris Koumadje -- the tallest player on the floor at 7-foot-4 -- committed a shooting foul on Johnson, then proceeded to swat the ball angrily into the seventh row of the stands. Koumadje was also assessed a technical foul, and the Tar Heels converted two of the four foul shots to regain the lead -- and never looked back.

"He lost his composure there a little bit, I think," Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said of Koumadje. "I like to see that fire, but it came at the wrong time."

Paige's big night included going 5-for-9 from long range and a team-high five assists. Fellow guard Joel Berry II contributed 12 points for the Tar Heels.

Bacon and Beasley, the ACC's top freshman duo, did their part, combining for 33 points and 15 rebounds. Bacon finished with 18 points and seven boards, and Beasley tallied 15 points and eight rebounds.

Guard Benji Bell gave the Seminoles a spark off the bench with 10 points, but it wasn't enough for the suddenly struggling Seminoles, who had won six straight games before back-to-back losses.

North Carolina crushed Florida State on the boards 50-33, including 18-11 on the offensive end. The Tar Heels scored 50 of their 106 points in the paint.

Florida State has lost eight of its last nine meetings at home against the Tar Heels and 17 of 20 home games against ranked opponents since the start of 2012-13.

"I was very proud of how our guys fought back. It really was a tremendous effort," Hamilton said. "But (North Carolina) is a very, very good basketball team -- they have a real shot at the national title. And they showed why tonight."

NOTES: North Carolina assistant coach Steve Robinson was back in familiar territory. The former Florida State coach (1997-2001), who has been an assistant on Roy Williams' staff for 13 years, has carved out a nice career in Chapel Hill as the legendary coach's longest-tenured assistant. He also has been named one of the Top 25 recruiters in all of college basketball multiple times ... Florida State continues its quick start to ACC play -- three games in seven days -- as it next heads to in-state rival No. 11 Miami on Monday. ... North Carolina next plays at Syracuse on Saturday, then has a week off before its next game against rival North Carolina State.