Well, it wasn’t quite another day at the office, but for top-ranked North Carolina it was close.

The Tar Heels, top seeded in the ACC Tournament, had twice handled Florida State during the regular season, including in their final home game at the Smith Center. They knew Leonard Hamilton’s ninth-seeded club would be physical inside, would rely heavily on its guards for scoring, and would try to slow the tempo rather than fall into the trap of playing at UNC’s preferred breakneck pace.

No matter. Once the Heels quit settling for jumpshots and began attacking the basket with greater resolution, what had been a competitive contest became a comfortable cruise to an 82-70 win. Next up: Virginia Tech, which handled Miami, 63-49, in the afternoon's other quarterfinals.

North Carolina is in customary territory in reaching the semifinals, having done so 42 times in 54 ACC Tournament appearances. (Faced with NCAA probation, UNC sat out the 1961 event despite finishing first during the regular season.) FSU, now 19-14, has yet to beat the Tar Heels in four tries in the tournament.

“We feel good about still being here and still playing, and that’s what you’ve got to do at tournament time,” Roy Williams said.

The sense of controlled desperation required to survive in postseason was evident in the UNC coach’s actions on the sidelines. Dressed in a tan suit that matched the shirts worn by the 13 functionaries seated at the scorer’s table, a frustrated Williams ripped off his coat jacket late in the first half to punctuate his frustration.

The pique was directed particularly at “two stupid plays” by his team, not at the game officials, Williams asserted. “The referee thought I was mad at him,” the coach said. “I’m always mad at the referees, they’ve got to understand that.”

One source of coaching angst eased when the Heels began dominating the paint. Reflecting that focus, the Heels made 59.3 percent of their second-half shots. They also forced 16 turnovers for the game while committing only 10 themselves against 19 assists.

Comparably important to its general well-being, UNC ably aided and abetted big man Tyler Hansbrough’s efforts inside.

Hansbrough has virtually lived at the foul line during his career. But, after failing to earn a free throw in last weekend’s victory at Duke, and in the first half against FSU, he and his teammates did a better job of feeding his foul habit. Sent to the line 10 times in the second half, Hansbrough scored 8 of his team-high 22 points on free throws. “I wasn’t really focused on it,” said the ACC player of the year. “If I get the ball inside the way we attack, I think it just happens.”

Following their 30th victory in 32 outings this season, several Tar Heels observed that Williams seemed particularly determined to see UNC win its second straight ACC Tournament.

“Coach is fired up,” said guard Ty Lawson.

Leaning against a hallway wall in Bobcats Arena clutching a bag of ice around his left thumb, an injury incurred in practice, Lawson laughingly admitted his body was breaking down like that of an older man. He also had ice applied to his left hip (an injury suffered in the FSU game on March 4), and of course around the left ankle he sprained at Florida State on Feb. 3, causing him to miss six games. He said his right ankle, sprained at Duke, was probably deserving of an ice pack too.

Lawson continues to gain leg strength and stamina, and to test the results of drives to the basket that cause him to leave his feet for uncertain landings in traffic. “Sometimes I’m scared about that, thinking I’ll come back down on somebody’s ankle,” Lawson admitted. The sophomore tried three layups against FSU and reported no ill-effects.

Meanwhile, both coach and player said Lawson’s travails created opportunities for others to gain playing time and confidence, most prominently shooting guard Will Graves, wing Danny Green, and reserve playmaker Quentin Thomas.

“Me going down has helped the team a lot,” Lawson said.

North Carolina next plays a Virginia Tech squad it crushed by 39 points without Lawson in mid-February. The game proved a turning point for the Hokies.

“That was almost a cleansing experience for us,” said Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenberg, the 2008 ACC coach of the year. “That was an embarrassing moment, but through that situation it brought our team that much closer together.”

The third-seeded Hokies have won five of six games since, including their victory over Miami in a tense half-court struggle, the tournament’s most competitive contest to date. Key for Virginia Tech was its 51-25 domination of the boards, a prerequisite if it is to control Hansbrough, and the tempo, against North Carolina.