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ATLANTA -- This year's ACC player of the year couldn't go. So North Carolina turned to last year's ACC player of the year.

Speedy point guard Ty Lawson sat on the bench, wearing his uniform and a glorified open-toed bedroom slipper on his injured right foot. Lawson watched as Tyler Hansbrough carried the Tar Heels into the semifinals of the ACC tournament.

Hansbrough scored 28 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and made a pivotal defensive play in the final seconds to lead top-seeded North Carolina to a 79-76 quarterfinal victory over eighth-seeded Virginia Tech on Friday afternoon at the Georgia Dome.

Wayne Ellington added 16 points and Deon Thompson had 14 for the No. 1 Tar Heels (28-3), who play fourth-seeded and No. 22 Florida State (24-8) at 1:30 p.m. today.

Carolina is trying to win its third straight ACC tournament title.

A.D. Vassallo finished with 26 points and 10 rebounds for Virginia Tech (18-14), but he missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Hokies needed that shot to force overtime, and chances are they needed it to get into the NCAA tournament, too.

Instead, they're headed home because Hansbrough decided to defend someone else at a critical moment.

With the Tar Heels leading 77-76, their four-time All-American left his own defensive assignment -- power forward Jeff Allen -- and stepped in to help teammate Ed Davis cut off J.T. Thompson's path to the basket.

"I saw him coming down the lane," Hansbrough said. "It looked like he just stopped, and I went over to get the ball. Plain and simple."

"That's exactly what I saw," North Carolina coach Roy Williams piped in.

Hansbrough got a hand on the ball, and the whistle blew. Jumpball. With 5.2 seconds left. And the possession arrow pointing North Carolina's way. A steal for Hansbrough on the final stat sheet.

"I thought it was a foul," Allen said. "But other people thought it wasn't, so it was a jumpball. That's something you just have to deal with."

Or not. Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg came unglued, ripping off his sportcoat, throwing it to the floor as if spiking a football and stomping up and down in front of the Hokies' bench in protest.

"What I saw doesn't count, so it makes no difference," Greenberg said later, squinting into the media room's bright lights. "The only people that count were the guys wearing the striped shirts."

When Carolina put the ball back in play after the call, Hansbrough drew a foul with 4.6 seconds left. He sank both free throws to finish 10-for-10 from the foul line, and the Hokies needed 3-pointer to tie.

Again, Hansbrough was there. He switched defensive assignments and got a hand up to interfere with Vassallo's shot.

"I saw A.D. kind of cut loose, so I left my man and was pretty confident he was going to take the last shot," Hansbrough said. "I stepped out there and I didn't foul him because I thought he was close to shooting. So I didn't want to take a chance there. I just put my hand up and hoped he would miss."

He did.

"I only had three seconds left," Vassallo said. "I had to make a quick decision. I didn't think Hansbrough would come out and help. I thought I had the open look, then I saw him. I jumped up over him and had a good look. It just didn't go in."

The missed shot ended a game Virginia Tech led by as many as nine points. That was in the first half, while the Tar Heels adjusted to life without Lawson.

Senior Bobby Frasor started in place of Lawson. He played 37 minutes -- the most since the fourth game of his freshman year -- and finished with four points and three assists.

"They're still going to run, they're still going to establish Hansbrough," Greenberg said. "They're going to try and free up Ellington. It's not like they're void of players. Bobby Frasor was a McDonald's All-American. So they took out a player of the year and put in a McDonald's All-American."

Notes: Hansbrough has 2,745 career points, 24 behind Duke alum J.J. Redick on the ACC's all-time scoring list. ... Hansbrough passed the late Hank Gathers of Loyola-Marymount for 17th place on the NCAA all-time scoring list. Redick is 16th. ... Already North Carolina's all-time leading scorer, Hansbrough needs just seven rebounds to pass Sam Perkins for first place on the Tar Heels' all-time list. Hansbrough has 1,161 rebounds in his career, and Perkins grabbed 1,167 from 1980-'84. ... Carolina has won three straight ACC tournament titles only once in the storied program's history: 1967, '68 and '69.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

VIRGINIA TECH (18-14)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Allen 23 4-8 1-1 3-7 0 5 9

Vassallo 30 10-22 2-2 4-10 2 4 26

Diakite 31 3-4 0-0 1-3 0 2 6

Hudson 32 3-7 0-0 0-1 3 2 7

Delaney 39 5-15 4-7 1-4 10 1 17

Bell 3 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0

Thorns 16 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2

Davila 2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 0

Thompson 24 4-6 1-1 1-4 0 3 9

Totals 200 30-67 8-11 12-33 15 20 76

Percentages: FG .448, FT .727. 3-point goals: 8-19, .421 (Vassallo 4-7, Delaney 3-7, Hudson 1-4, Bell 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 4 (Diakite, Hudson, Allen, Vassallo). Turnovers: 7 (Delaney 2, Allen 2, Hudson, Thompson, Vassallo).

Steals: 4 (Vassallo, Hudson, Thorns, Allen).

NORTH CAROLINA (28-3)

FG FT Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A PF Pts

Green 29 2-13 0-0 2-5 1 2 5

Thompson 23 5-10 2-4 3-7 1 2 12

Hansbrough 34 9-17 10-10 5-8 2 1 28

Frasor 37 1-4 1-2 1-4 3 2 4

Ellington 35 6-10 0-1 0-5 4 3 16

Drew II 14 0-2 0-0 0-3 4 2 0

Watts 5 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0

Davis 19 4-6 2-4 4-6 0 1 10

Zeller 4 2-2 0-0 2-3 0 1 4

Totals 200 29-65 15-21 19-44 16 14 79

Percentages: FG .446, FT .714. 3-point goals: 6-19, .316 (Ellington 4-7, Frasor 1-4, Green 1-7, Drew II 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 4 (Thompson 2, Davis, Green). Turnovers: 9 (Thompson 2, Green 2, Drew II 2, Davis 2, Frasor). Steals: 5 (Hansbrough 2, Thompson, Davis, Ellington).

Virginia Tech 42 34 -- 76

North Carolina 43 36 -- 79

Officials--Karl Hess, Ray Natili, Brian Dorsey. A--26,352.