North Carolina-Virginia Tech Preview

3/14/2008 5:33 PM

By BRETT HUSTON
STATS Writer

Though it earned a quarterfinal win, North Carolina didn't deliver its best defensive performance of the season in its Atlantic Coast Conference tournament opener.

That may have come the last time it faced Virginia Tech.

The No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Tar Heels will face the fourth-seeded Hokies - who they beat by 39 last month - in the ACC semifinals on Saturday, looking to get closer to potentially earning the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament.

A win would put North Carolina - the defending tournament champions - in its conference-record 29th ACC title game. It's won the title 16 times.

The Tar Heels (30-2) were impressive but far from dominant on Friday in their ACC tournament opener, beating ninth-seeded Florida State 82-70. The Seminoles hung around all game, shooting 49.1 percent and tying North Carolina 30-30 in total rebounds - only the third time Roy Williams' team had failed to outrebound an opponent this season.

"I still think we can do some things better,'' said Tyler Hansbrough, the unanimous ACC player of the year. "I don't think any of us are really satisfied with this. We're satisfied with the win - we're moving on. But there are some things we didn't do that we want to improve on.''

There was little room for North Carolina to improve after its last game against Virginia Tech (19-12). The Tar Heels routed the Hokies 92-53 in Chapel Hill on Feb. 16, tied for the most lopsided win in ACC play this season.

The Tar Heels held the Hokies to 25.9 percent shooting and outrebounded them 54-24.

"I think it was our best defensive game of the year," Williams said at the time. "If we had been playing defense like that the whole season it would really have been a fun time."

The loss was the worst for Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg in his five years heading the program.

"I don't have a chart in my office ranking my embarrassing losses," said Greenberg, who added that he wouldn't make his players watch the game film. "You can take these and flush them down the toilet."

Most of North Carolina's game film this year has featured Hansbrough dominating in the paint, and Friday's game was no different, as he scored a team-high 22 points against Florida State.

Hansbrough - who earlier this week was unanimously selected to the All-ACC first team for the third time - is averaging 25.4 points and 11.3 rebounds in his last 11 contests. He had 23 points against Virginia Tech last month.

On the perimeter, Wayne Ellington is the Tar Heels' most consistent threat. He's averaging 18.1 points in his last nine games. He had 19 on Friday and had 19 in his first meeting with the Hokies.

While North Carolina is the second-highest scoring team in the country at 89.7 points per game, Virginia Tech is 11th in the ACC at 69.5.

The Hokies are led offensively by junior guard A.D. Vassallo, who's averaging 19.3 points over his last six games. He only had 15 on Friday, but Virginia Tech won its quarterfinal matchup, beating Miami 63-49.

It was another strong defensive effort from the Hokies, who lead the ACC in scoring defense, allowing just 65.2 points per game.

Virginia Tech didn't have any problems rebounding against the Hurricanes, finishing with a 47-22 edge on the boards. But North Carolina is the country's best rebounding team (44.5 per game), which it proved with a 30-board edge against the Hokies last month.

The Tar Heels hold a 3-2 edge in the series since Virginia Tech joined the ACC in 2004, but the Hokies swept North Carolina last season.