UNC’s impossible dream of winning the ACC looks like a reality — at least for a night
If anyone in the ACC was operating under the misapprehension that North Carolina was your typical 14th seed, Brandon Robinson removed all doubt. His step-back 3-pointer that left Nahiem Allyne falling to the floor in the second half was an 8 on a scale of 0 to Randolph Childress, followed by a shout to the crowd that sent an equally decisive message.
“I’m here,” Robinson yelled.
The Tar Heels are here, in Greensboro, early -- but apparently not a moment too late.
What could be one of the greatest stories in ACC tournament history got off to about the smoothest possible start, a 78-56 win over Virginia Tech behind yet another 20-point game from Garrison Brooks and 17 points from Robinson, whose outburst may have been representative of the Tar Heels’ emotion during this second season but nearly got him benched.
“If I had known he’d said, ‘I’m here,’ I would have said, ‘Come over here and be right here with me,’” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “You know, just play the game. But kids are going to be kids.”
Even the bad parts turned out OK for UNC: Christian Keeling left the game in the first half after twisting his left ankle and was not on the bench for the second half, only to unexpectedly return to the game -- and leave his teammates giggling about “Paul Pierce” afterward. Keeling, presumably, was not faking because he needed a bathroom break, but it’s been a long time since the Tar Heels had anything to laugh about. Brooks couldn’t even check into the game in the second half without chuckling.
Syracuse, which has lost nine straight to North Carolina, is next. And if Jim Boeheim didn’t like Greensboro before, wait until he walks out onto the court for what will undoubtedly be a road game late Wednesday night.
“It was like being in the Smith Center in there tonight,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said, although the crowd was the least of his problems. His team beat North Carolina in Blacksburg without Robinson and Cole Anthony, and the Tar Heels are suddenly moving like a tremendous machine.
A healthy Robinson, with his array of fancy moves, is a big part of that.
“I know B-Rob had that cross-over since high school,” Brooks said. “I saw it a real long time ago.”
It’s not the only vision that seems to be coming to reality for the Tar Heels. Going on the kind of run North Carolina would have to go on may be impossible, but it seems a little less impossible tonight than it did last night.
“I 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,” Williams said. “And I thought that’s what we did.”
The Tar Heels are here, still here. And the impossible dream lives on, for at least another night.
This story was originally published March 10, 2020 at 10:15 PM.
