GREENSBORO, N.C. _ Roy Williams knows that if his team is going to get into the NCAA tournament, then it has to do something no other ACC team has done before.
Win five games in five days in its conference tournament.
Looking at it from that perspective can be daunting. So the Tar Heels are taking it one game at a time.
So far, so good.
No. 14-seeded UNC (14-18) beat No. 11-seeded Virginia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament, 78-56, in front of a pro-UNC crowd at Greensboro Coliseum.
The Tar Heels used their size advantage to dominate the Hokies on the offensive glass, and in the paint.
UNC junior forward Garrison Brooks, who has scored 20 points in each of the last seven games, could not be stopped in the post. He finished with 20 points and was 8 for 10 from the free throw line.
Senior guard Brandon Robinson caught fire from 3 in the second half and finished with 17 points. He was 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
With the win, the Tar Heels advance to the second round to face No. 6 Syracuse at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. The Tar Heels are now 20-7 in opening-round games when the ACC tournament is in Greensboro, where they have won eight ACC championships.
Winning this one will be a lot tougher. No one has won five games in five days since the ACC expanded to 15 teams in 2014. But the Tar Heels got one out the way Tuesday night.
Virginia Tech and UNC met each other one other time this season, on Jan. 22 in Blacksburg, Virginia. It ended in a 79-77 double overtime win for the Hokies _ one that saw three Tar Heel players play 47 minutes or more.
Neither Robinson nor freshman guard Cole Anthony played in the first game. And both were crucial in Tuesday's win.
Robinson's back-to-back 3-pointers with 7 minutes left in the second half put the Tar Heels up by 20 and iced the game.
Anthony finished with 10 points.
While the game was close in the first half, it was never really in doubt for the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels led the Hokies 32-26 at halftime.
Virginia Tech missed its first seven shots of the second half and allowed UNC to push its lead to 13 points. Anthony's "and-1" layup gave the Tar Heels a 39-26 lead with 16:36 left.
After that, the Hokies never got within 10 points. Virginia Tech star freshman Landers Nolley II finished with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
