One down, four to go for the Cinderella Tar Heels.

Carolina fans are used to watching their team play for three straight days of the ACC tournament, especially in Greensboro where UNC has won the most games (40) and is tied with Duke for the most championships (8).

This time, the 14th-seeded team that made it a rare appearance in the expanded first round will definitely play two games. If the Heels can duplicate their rout at Syracuse back on leap year day, they will advance to a third game, the Thursday quarterfinal against No. 3 seed Louisville.

The Greensboro Coliseum wasn’t full, but most of those who were there wore some shade of light blue to see their heroes dominate a Virginia Tech team they had lost to in double overtime in Blacksburg without Cole Anthony and Brandon Robinson.

Now healthier than for most of the current campaign, Carolina looked worthy of the buzz that a late-season surge created about winning an unprecedented five games in five days – the only way Roy Williams’ club can qualify for the NCAA tournament.

Anthony wasn’t great but still showed what his mere presence can do, augured by two pick-and-roll assists that resulted in slam dunks and four of Garrison Brooks’ game-high 20 points, the fifth consecutive time he has reached that plateau. Brooks had 28 in the game at VaTech and walked off the court broken-hearted that night.

But the returnee making the most difference was senior Robinson, who looks fully recovered from his two sprained ankles. B-Rob made 5 of 6 from the arc, often left open as the Hokies doubled-downed on Brooks and Armando Bacot (11th double-double). One, he nailed after a crossover dribble that turned a defender completely around and wowed the crowd.

Ironically, Christian Keeling, who had stepped up to bolster Carolina’s “big three” while Robinson recouped, sprained his ankle and limped off the floor only to return in the second half, one of the team’s best all season.

The Heels shot 55 percent in the second half, continued to crush the Hokies on the boards and ran away with the 22-point win. So, they survived to advance and the dream of wearing those glass Air Jordans is still alive.

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