Where: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, VA
When: Wednesday, March 4th, 7:00 PM
TV: ESPN
Livestats: ACC
Liveblogging: Yes
Records: UNC 25-3, 11-3 ACC; Virginia Tech 17-11, 7-7 ACC
Time to take care of business.
UNC has but one option before them and that is to win out. As fans we wanted the pressure to be off and a FSU win over Duke would have done that. As it is UNC needs to do what they are more than capable of doing and that is beating Virginia Tech then handle Duke. First up the Hokies who will be playing desperate since they would like what Maryland got ten days ago, a win at home over UNC to jumpstart a run for the NCAA Tournament. UNC has a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament in mind and the easiest path to that is taking the ACC regular season.
For the Heels, a continuation of what they did versus Georgia Tech would be the best way to go. UNC got a lot of balance in the offense on Saturday but possibly of greater importance the offense was routed through the interior players which opened up other aspects of the offense. Tyler Hansbrough had a "standard" game for him with a nice mix of jumpers and inside shots plus trips to the foul line. Ty Lawson, who must walk the fine line between facilitating the offense and stepping up, will be a key in this game. It will be interesting to see if VT can check Lawson and with the game on the interior likely to be physical, the offense could get bogged down. That is where a healthy dose of good shooting from Wayne Ellington and Danny Green might be very helpful.
This is the point of the season the Heels need to get focused. Duke is waiting so the Heels should not be caught looking ahead but rather make a statement that they are more than ready to take on Duke this coming Sunday.
UNC 89 VT 75