GREENSBORO, NC – After Brandon Robinson drained his third 3-pointer is a span of 1:51 off the clock Tuesday night, prompting a Virginia Tech timeout, he turned to the crowd and yelled “I’m here.”
His barrage capped a huge run for the Tar Heels, who’s statement to the rest of the ACC, and certainly the Hokies, is that they are here, and they get to play another day.
UNC defeated Virginia Tech, 78-56, in the first prong of what they home are many here at the ACC Tournament. BRob is here, the Tar Heels are here at the Greesnboro Coliseum, and they get to stay another night.
“Yes, definitely,” Robinson said, still smiling.
He then added a nice little caveat.
“And the hotel is good, too,” he said. “I’m ready.”
However long the Tar Heels (14-18) stick around will be determined over the next few nights, but if they play anything like they did in the second half versus the Hokies, the folks at ESPN will be rather pleased, because nothing will bring the nation’s sports spotlight on this town more than a Carolina run, especially this Carolina team in this season.
Roy Williams’ club improved to 14-18 with the win, and you don’t have to understand the process that much to know they need to win out to extend their season beyond this week.
But the quest that commenced for Carolina with this win isn’t so much about if they get a chance to play in the NCAA Tournament next week, it’s about playing well and enjoying a rare opportunity to take the floor as healthy as they’ve been all season.
The Hokies learned something about what the Tar Heels look like with Cole Anthony and BRob on the floor. They didn’t play in the only regular season matchup between the clubs, in which Tech won in double overtime in Blacksburg. Imagine, one Robinson three or Anthony driving layup and that game would have been different.
It was wholly different Tuesday night.
The Tar Heels were outstanding on the glass (45-30 advantage), shot 54.8 percent from the floor in the second half against just two turnovers, and held the Hokies to 29 percent shooting from the field.
Oh, and the 3-ball that used to carve out the Heels’ hearts? Tech was 10-for-36 on the night, which is a paltry 27.8 percent.
And you know what, the Tar Heels did this without Garrison Brooks netting just one field goal in the first half and Cole Anthony not near his best. Brooks was outstanding in the second half, finishing with 20 points on the night, but Anthony’s numbers – 10 points on 3-for-10 shooting, four assists and four turnovers – would have suggested a Carolina loss just a couple of weeks ago. But not now.
The Heels have been getting better, everyone knows that, and on this night they were a bit Carolina-like. They found ways to win and had some breathtaking stretches.
And they had the crowd behind them.
“It's definitely good to have the fan support,” Robinson said. “They were getting into the game and they were getting loud and they made it difficult for the other team to hear their offensive sets because every time down the court they were calling plays and looking over at their bench so it was good to disrupt their communication.”
About 70 percent of the 13,000 spectators here were UNC fans, if not more, and it will be fuller Wednesday and beyond, especially if the Heels stick around. And that’s all they care about right now.
Play well, have some fun and hang out for a little longer.
“I’m very happy to still be here,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said. “Told the kids, let's play as hard as we can play, as well as we can play, and at the end somebody may let us stay around and play another one, and I thought that's what we did.”
Wednesday, the Heels will try it again against Syracuse. And who knows, maybe they can extend this thing another day.
