It’s March again, so surviving and advancing is the name of the game for North Carolina.

And for the Tar Heels to advance to Friday’s ACC Tournament semifinals, they must quickly put Wednesday’s romp behind them and deal with a Virginia Tech squad that is the No. 3 seed in the field.

UNC is coming off a dominant 101-59 win over No. 11 seed Notre Dame in the second round Wednesday night. Despite the absence of senior leader Garrison Brooks, due to an ankle injury he suffered in the team’s senior night win over Duke last Saturday, the Tar Heels dominated the Irish down low, with forwards Armando Bacot, Walker Kessler and Day’Ron Sharpe all finishing with double-doubles.

In total, five Tar Heels finished in double figures, with freshmen guards Caleb Love and RJ Davis pitching in 15 and 14 points, respectively.

Next up for Carolina is meeting with the Hokies, whom the Heels didn’t face in the regular season, as their Feb. 16 scheduled matchup in Chapel Hill was postponed after a positive COVID-19 test within the Hokies’ program.

Predicted to finish eleventh in the ACC preseason standings, Virginia Tech is 15-5 overall and went 9-4 in league play, earning it a double-bye in the tournament.

So, what kind of club are the Tar Heels facing?

Virginia Tech is led by junior forward and second-team All-ACC selection Keve Aluma, who is averaging a team-high 15.9 points and 8.0 rebounds this season. Sophomore guard Tyrece Radford is second on the team in points, averaging 11.4 and 6.1 boards, while fellow sophomore guard Naheim Alleyne is third on the team in points with 10.2.

Earlier this week, Tech Coach Mike Young was named the ACC Coach of the Year, his eighth conference Coach of the Year honor in his career after winning seven in the SoCon as the head coach at Wofford.

Still, there’s an unusual unfamiliarity between the teams, as this is the first time ever Carolina has faced a team in the ACC Tournament it did not play in the regular season.

“They're a little bit of a mystery,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said following Wednesday’s win. “I have seen them play some, but not nearly as much as I have the other teams. They'll be even more rested than we are, and we understand that, but Michael does a great job. I saw their game against Virginia and they were off the charts, so good in that game.”

Despite its success this season, Virginia Tech played just 20 of its 28 originally scheduled regular season contests. The Hokies had to cancel their final two regular season games due to contact tracing and quarantining and have played just two games since Feb. 6, losing to Georgia Tech by 16 before beating Wake Forest, 84-46.

One of Carolina’s challenges is playing with prosperity, as Williams called it earlier in the season, when the Tar Heels would play well in collecting a big win only to follow it up with a poorly played loss. And, with six freshmen playing significant minutes Wednesday, handling the short turnaround could be an obstacle.

For Sharpe, who started against the Irish in place of the injured Brooks, the focus shifted to the Hokies immediately after Wednesday night’s win.

“I feel like everybody’s already focused on the Virginia Tech game,” he said. “It’s a tournament, you play every day. Once you win, it's on to the next. Right after the game, we were all focused and ready for Virginia Tech.”

Kessler, who set UNC’s ACC Tournament record and the all-time ACC Tournament freshman record for blocks with eight against Notre Dame, knows the importance of being focused and prepared to play again after a less than 24-hour turnaround.

“Coach in the locker room said, 'Celebrate this win until midnight and after that, quick turnaround, got to get ready for the next game,'” Kessler said. “And Virginia Tech is a very good team, so we've got to be ready.”

Carolina enters Thursday night’s contest as a four-point favorite over Virginia Tech, with tipoff set for 8:30 pm. The game will be televised on ESPN and the winner will face Florida State in the semifinals at 9 pm on Friday night.