Boxscore | Bracket | Postgame Quotes | Tournament Central
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) - Garrison Brooks scored 20 points, Brandon Robinson added 17 points on five 3-pointers and North Carolina extended its season with a 78-56 win over Virginia Tech Tuesday night in the opening round of the New York Life Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
Armando Bacot added 12 points and 11 rebounds and Cole Anthony chipped in with 10 points and eight rebounds for the Tar Heels (14-18).
UNC entered the tournament as the last seed, No. 14 overall, following a disastrous regular season for a school with a proud history of winning 18 ACC Tournament championships, second only to Duke's 21 titles.
Hunter Cattoor had 14 points off the bench for No. 11 seed Virginia Tech (16-16).
North Carolina used a 17-3 first-half run to build a 32-26 lead at halftime.
The Tar Heels then scored the first seven points of the second half, including a spinning layup by Anthony that resulted in a 3-point play.
The lead grew to 20 when Robinson hit back-to-back 3-pointers, including one where he froze the defender and stepped back to drill the jumper and shouted to the crowd ''I'm here!'' A few minutes later Robinson buried another 3 to push the UNC lead to 68-43 with 5:26 left.
The Tar Heels held a significant height advantage over Virginia Tech and used it, continually pounding the ball inside to Brooks. The Tar Heels went to the line 25 times, making 19. Brooks shot 10 free throws, one fewer than the entire Hokies team.
This is the first time Tar Heels coach Roy Williams has entered a postseason tournament with a losing record.
The Tar Heels now hope to make a run and shock the ACC. The Hokies will wait to hear if they receive a bid to the National Invitational Tournament.
BIG PICTURE
Virginia Tech: Mike Young's first season with the Hokies didn't end the way he would have liked and there's reasons for that. It's pretty clear Young will need to add some ''bigs'' to the roster if the Hokies are going to compete in the ACC next season. Shooting was also an issue as Virginia Tech finished 10 of 36 from the field.
North Carolina: Top reserve Christian Keeling injured his left ankle in the first half while running down a loose ball when Virginia Tech's John Ojiako inadvertently stepped on him. Keeling had to be helped off the floor. He returned in the second half but ran with a noticeable limp at first, but remained in the game. It's unclear how much of a factor he will be moving forward for the Tar Heels.
NOTES:
North Carolina (14-18) advances to Wednesday’s 2 p.m. second-round game versus No. 6 seed Syracuse (17-14). The Tar Heels defeated the Orange 92-79 in the lone regular-season meeting between the teams on Feb. 29 at the Carrier Dome.
UNC improved to 102-47 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 1-1 in first-round games. The Tar Heels are 40-18 all-time in ACC Tournament games played in Greensboro.
Virginia Tech (16-16) slipped to 10-16 all-time in the ACC Tournament and 3-7 in ACC tourney games at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The No. 14 seed now holds a 4-3 edge versus the No. 11 seed in ACC Tournament matchups.
UNC improved to 69-15 versus Virginia Tech, including a 16-5 mark since the Hokies joined the ACC for the 2004-05 season. The teams split this season, with Virginia Tech winning in double-overtime at Blacksburg on Jan. 22. The Tar Heels are 3-0 versus Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament.
UNC junior Garrison Brooks led all scorers with 20 points, marking his seventh consecutive game scoring at least 20. Brooks has averaged 24.1 points over that seven-game stretch. Brooks needs 27 points to reach 1,000 for his career.
With 11 rebounds, UNC freshman Armando Bacot reached double digits on the boards for the 14th time this season.
Senior Brandon Robinson’s five made 3-pointers tied for the fourth-most by a UNC player in an ACC Tournament game. The team record is six, shared by three players. It marked the fifth time this season Robinson has hit at least five 3-pointers in a game.
Virginia Tech went 10-of-36 from 3-point range, marking its fourth straight game connecting on at least 10 shots from beyond the arc.
Freshman Hunter Cattoor went 4-for-10 from 3-point range and led the Hokies in scoring with 14 points. Cattoor has made two or more 3s in in seven of his last eight games since Feb. 15.