The No. 19 North Carolina men’s basketball team, 20-9 overall and 10-6 in ACC play, travels to Atlanta Tuesday night for a rematch with Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets, 12-17 overall with a 3-14 mark in the league, will be hoping to sting the Tar Heels and knock them out of a potential No. 4 seed in next week’s ACC Tournament.

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UNC’s final road game of the season figures to be a manageable one. After all, lowly Georgia Tech has lost three in a row and Carolina absolutely clobbered the Ramblin’ Wreck earlier this season in Chapel Hill, 89-60, in the famous ‘Four Corners’ game.

When JP Tokoto's game elevates, so do the Tar Heels (Todd Melet)

When JP Tokoto’s game elevates, so do the Tar Heels (Todd Melet)

The Tar Heels will hope to embark on another runaway. After all, they’ve struggled to close out the tight games.

But UNC junior guard Marcus Paige says Saturday’s road win at Miami helped restore his team’s late-game confidence.

“It feels good. We’ve had a lot of close battles that unfortunately, one or two things happen and we lose. This time, we were able to make a couple corrections and make enough winning plays to make a difference. It feels good to be in a close game and actually come out on top,” Paige says.

UNC head coach Roy Williams says the 15 turnovers in south Florida were worrisome, but he liked the aggressive activity of junior forward J.P. Tokoto.

“I wish we’d leave out the turnovers. We don’t need to fill out that stat. I thought he had a couple big-time rebounds where it was, ‘who is going to get it?’ And it was J.P. who came up and got it. He’s got to go to the board and rebound for us. He’s done a much better job of it,” Coach Williams says.

As for the foul trouble, too many whistles have been blown for Coach Williams’ liking.

“We do want to try to get fouled. We’re leading the country in mind in number of times we reach in and make silly fouls,” Coach Williams says.

Coach Williams says he doesn’t expect freshman Theo Pinson to return to the lineup Tuesday night, but he dressed out last weekend and appears to be getting his health back. That’s good news for Tar Heel fans.

Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory, for one, is pretty high on Carolina.

“They’re as good as anybody around. Coach [Williams] knows that. The players know that. I think they’re, hopefully it will be after our game, they’re going to have a heck of a run,” Coach Gregory says.

Freshman guard Joel Berry came up with a clutch three-pointer over the weekend, but he credits the overall buy-in and effort from his teammates for getting the ‘W’.

Roy Williams animated on the sidelines (Todd Melet)

Roy Williams animated on the sidelines (Todd Melet)

“I think we played with a lot of energy, a lot of effort. We came out really slow against N.C. State and couldn’t get our momentum back. Today [vs. GT], we started off with great momentum. We just played together and a lot of effort,” Berry says.

If there’s one thing Georgia Tech can do, it’s rebound. Coach Gregory’s team is hauling in 38 per game. The offensive output, on the other end, is another story.

UNC leads the all-time series with Georgia Tech, 65-24. In fact, the Jackets haven’t beaten the Heels since 2011.

But McCamish Pavilon has historically been a tough venue in the ACC, and with UNC’s sights firmly set on snagging a double bye in next week’s conference tournament, a slip-up is not an option.