CHARLOTTE - Despite trailing by as many as eight points during Saturday's second half, North Carolina guard Wayne Ellington said he never worried that his top-seeded team was going to lose to No. 4 seed Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament semifinals.

"When the game's on the line, and we've got to step up and get buckets, I feel real confident that I can step up and do it,'' the sophomore said.

And he did it -- again. Although forward Tyler Hansbrough was the Tar Heel who hit the winning jump shot to beat the Hokies 68-66 at Bobcats Arena, it was Ellington's clutch play in the final minutes that put Hansbrough in the position to make it. And win it.

Trailing 59-56 with 3:10 left, Ellington's 3-pointer knotted the score 59-59. Trailing by three, again, with 2:20 left, another Ellington 3 made it 64-64.

He was on such a roll that with 1:28 left, Hokie Deron Washington fouled Ellington -- two feet beyond the arc. He made two of three free throws to give the Tar Heels their first lead of the second half, 66-64.

"He made big shots last year, but right now, he's just reminding me of what Reyshawn [Terry] was doing in the ACC Tournament last year," wing Marcus Ginyard said. "It just felt like whenever we needed a shot, Reyshawn hit it, and the last two games, every time we needed a shot, Wayne's been there, knocking them down. It's been great."

The only flaw in Ellington's key run: He was called for a technical foul with 2:45 left after he responded verbally to a foul by Washington. Ellington said it was a "friendly chat" between players.

"They pushed me a little bit, and I got up and he bumped me," Ellington said. "I don't even know what I said, the ref blew it pretty fast. ... I can't remember the last time I did get one [a technical]; it's something I try not to do, I'm usually not involved in that kind of stuff. But I got caught up in the emotions of the game."

Coach Roy Williams said th sophomore will run next week because of the infraction, but in the end, Ellington finished with 15 points. He made just five of his 12 shots, but they swished when it mattered the most.

That could be a good sign, considering the Tar Heels play third-seeded Clemson in the championship game today. UNC needed a winning 3-pointer by Ellington to beat the Tigers in January, and it took two extra periods to beat them last month in Chapel Hill.

But if Carolina gets in a tight spot today, Ellington is confident his team can shoot its way out of it.

"We never felt like we were going to lose this game,'' Ellington said. "We've been in this situation before, I think we're so experienced that we know how to continue to fight and win."

BRIEFLY: The victory was senior Quentin Thomas' 118th at Carolina, surpassing the school record 117 wins accumulated by the 1983-84 class.