The tension rising throughout the second half, North Carolina never lost its lead – or its poise – in the ACC tournament semifinals at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Tar Heels held on to beat the Terrapins 79-76 and will play Miami on Sunday in the tournament championship game.

UNC led by as many as 13 points midway through the second half, but Maryland, which mounted comeback attempt after comeback attempt, whittled the Heels’ lead to a point with 3:12 to play. From there, UNC built its lead back up to five, only to see the Terps make it a two-point game with 19 seconds left.

GREENSBORO N.C. State shut down Erick Green and Joe Harris to get to the semifinals of the ACC tournament.

Miami's Durand Scott proved more difficult to defend. Scott's career-best 32 points carried the top-seeded Hurricanes to a 81-71 win over N.C. State and into their first ACC championship game.

N.C. State, playing for the third time in as many days, started sluggish and fell behind by double-digits midway through the first half and stayed in a hole.

GREENSBORO — In the final game of the regular season, North Carolina learned what could happen – what would happen – when it failed to create quality shots on the perimeter. The Tar Heels’ lopsided loss against Duke was a painful lesson for a team that had been shooting well, mostly, since mid-February.

The struggles from the perimeter, though, proved to be short-lived. UNC regained its outside touch during its 83-62 victory against Florida State here on Friday night in the ACC tournament quarterfinals at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The victory, though, came with a price: P.J. Hairston, the sophomore guard who led UNC (23-9, 13-6 ACC) with 21 points, left the game late in the second half after suffering a gash between the ring finger and middle finger on his left hand. The cut was so deep it required eight stitches.

GREENSBORO N.C. State beat Virginia at its own game on Friday at the ACC tournament.

The Wolfpack's defense, for the second straight day, stymied one of the top scorers in the ACC, this time in a 75-56 win over Virginia. N.C. State (24-9) will play top-seeded Miami on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the semifinals.

The Wolfpack held Virginia's Joe Harris to 13 points and got plenty of offense, and fight, from its veterans.

North Carolina needs Marcus Paige to be at his best in the ACC tournament. ROBERT WILLETT

CHAPEL HILL — About to get on the road to Greensboro, where tonight North Carolina plays Florida State at 9:30 in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum.

The Tar Heels are coming off a disappointing performance in a loss against Duke on Saturday, but they’re hopeful that the early-season struggles they endured have prepared them to respond.

Onto the preview …

Longtime ACC official Karl Hess returned to the ACC tournament on Thursday night, working the Wake Forest-Maryland game.

Hess did not work the ACC tournament last year in Atlanta, which set off a controversy when three officials taped Hess' initials to their sneakers for the first game of the tournament.

Hess was involved in a firestorm last season with N.C. State after he had former players Chris Corchiani and Tom Gugliotta ejected from the Florida State game in Raleigh.
Hess, who has worked 22 ACC games this season, the most of any official, has not refereed an N.C. State game yet this season.

GREENSBORO N.C. State didn't win many games in the regular season with its defense.

The Wolfpack won its first postseason game on Thursday with a strong defensive effort against the nation's leading scorer.

Fifth-seeded N.C. State held Virginia Tech's Erick Green to take a 80-63 win in the first round of the ACC tournament on Thursday in Greensboro.

In case you didn't think Olivier Hanlan was the best freshman in the ACC this season, the Boston College guard made his case again on Thursday in the first round of the ACC tournament.

Hanlan scored 41 points to lead the eighth-seeded Eagles to a runaway 84-64 win over ninth-seeded Georgia Tech in the first game on Thursday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum.

Boston College moves on to face top-seeded Miami at noon on Friday.