The third time did not prove the charm for Clemson. Rather, a third meeting with North Carolina provided a devastatingly emphatic demonstration for opponents who encounter the Tar Heels as, starting this week, they pursue the school’s fifth NCAA championship as the top seed in the East Regional. Teams that try to run with the Tar Heels are doomed to fail.

Most opponents this year approached top-ranked North Carolina with trepidation, for good reason. The Heels are talented, deep, and well-coached. They have a star inside in Tyler Hansbrough and a star on the perimeter in Wayne Ellington. They lead the ACC in scoring and in shooting accuracy and in rebounding.

Yet the team’s most distinctive trait, reflected in those and other ways, is its aggressiveness. Especially when point guard Ty Lawson is healthy, UNC probes remorselessly for weaknesses, pushes limits at every turn, likes to run and run and run some more.

So opponents tend to proceed cautiously, to minimize exposure on the offensive boards, to lock down on defense and to try to shorten the game, a strategy Virginia Tech almost made work in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

But not Clemson.

Clemson ran with North Carolina in the two regular-season meetings between the teams, and lost both in overtime. Come Sunday’s ACC Tournament finals, Clemson continued to force the pace at both ends of the court. “We liked the tempo, that’s our tempo,” coach Oliver Purnell said.

The Tigers tied a record for the finals with 14 steals, forced 20 North Carolina turnovers, and scored more points against the Heels than any opponent in 10 games.

And still the Tar Heels thrived, breaking away midway through the second half en route to a decisive 86-81 victory and the school’s 17th ACC title. UNC improved to 32-2. Only three squads in school history had more wins; two of those (1993 and 2005) were NCAA champions.

“Once the opposing team scores, they quickly (get it) in,” said Clemson’s K.C. Rivers, who led all scorers with 28 points. “We weren’t picking them up well in transition, so it was hurting us down the stretch.”

Actually, North Carolina’s fast break hurt Clemson throughout the game. UNC had a 20-3 edge in transition scoring in the first half, 34-15 overall.

“If you had to pick one word that I say to my team more than anything, it would be ‘run,’” Tar Heel coach Roy Williams said. “And I scream that all the time. I really believe that it’s very deflating for another team to score and then three or four seconds later we score, and they haven’t gained anything except their coach screaming at them about sprinting back. I like that.”

Williams is a man of ordinary stature. Observers have likened him to the cartoon character Huckleberry Hound. He learned the game from Dean Smith, who tweaked the rules for every advantage, including liberal use of delay tactics when it suited his purposes.

So it may come as a bit of a surprise that Williams resonates to the macho heroics of film stars John Wayne and Clint Eastwood, and sees his team’s style reflecting that inner self.

“For me, it fits my personality,” Williams said. “If somebody beats North Carolina with me coaching, it’s not going to be because we’re tentative. If somebody beats us, we’re going to be coming at them.”

As a result, an ACC Tournament finals that had the look of a classic for 25 minutes ended with a whimper. Ellington had 24 points, giving him 88 in the three wins over Clemson this season. Hansbrough, the tournament MVP, contributed 18 points, 11 rebounds, and the sort of solid, if unappreciated, defensive effort that drives opposing big men to distraction.

Clemson led at halftime, just as it had in the two previous contests. The Tigers still held a 49-47 edge with 15:41 to go after a Rivers' 3-pointer. That’s when Ellington, scoring inside and out as his offensive game continues to expand, spearheaded a 16-6 run that gave the Heels control.

The fade was a bitter comedown for a Clemson squad that starts three seniors and a junior. The last time Clemson reached the ACC Tournament finals, John Kennedy was President of the United States, current presidential candidate Barack Obama was one year old, and ACC men’s coaches Paul Hewitt of Georgia Tech and Miami’s Frank Haith had not been born.

Over the 46 years since that last appearance, Clemson remained, with rare exception, an ACC also-ran.

Today the Tigers had a chance to emphatically transcend that second-class ACC status, and failed.

To be sure, Purnell has substantially strengthened the program. This year’s third place finish during the regular season was the best at Clemson since 1990. The 24 wins so far rank as the fourth-most in school history, and helped earn a No.5 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Clemson’s first appearance in a decade. Last season’s team won 25; already the victory total over the last two years in the highest ever at Clemson.                                                                                                         

Yet the same fatal flaw that limited the Tigers’ ability to win close games in recent seasons – poor free throw shooting -- resurfaced against the unforgiving Tar Heels. After hitting 15 of 22 to subdue Duke in the semifinals, the ACC’s worst foul shooters hit 14 of 26 against UNC.

That 53.8 percent accuracy the worst ever in an ACC Tournament title game, and went a long way to making Roy Williams' day.