In Lucas Lawson meets his match

Many people would view a trip to Hawaii as a chance to lay low for a couple of days kick back and relax.

Not North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson.

Instead the junior used the Maui Invitational as his personal comeback show — repeatedly blowing past any defender Chaminade Oregon or Notre Dame threw in front of him.

With each successfully executed one-man fast break Lawson proved his once-injured right ankle is no longer an issue.

The next team that will try to reign in Lawson and the high-octane Tar Heel offense is Michigan State at 9:15 p.m. tonight at Detroit's Ford Field.

But the Spartans have a defensive weapon against Lawson that most other teams don't: their own lightening-quick point guard" Kalin Lucas.

""They're two of the quickest guys in college basketball — there's no question" coach Roy Williams said of Lawson and Lucas.

I think Ty and Kalin gotta be at that top level — nobody's above them" let's put it that way — and I think it will be interesting to see how they attack each other.""

Both guards average more than six assists per game"" with Lucas at 6.2 and Lawson at 6.7 dimes apiece. And each has the ability to go coast to coast at a moment's notice.

Who can get out into the open court more often could go a long way toward determining which offense scores enough to win the game.

""It's going to be fun to play against another fast guard that's like me"" Lawson said.

It's definitely hard to find many other guards in college basketball like the Clinton, Md.-native.

In three years at UNC, Lawson has emerged as one of the fastest and most aggressive guards on the break that Williams has coached in his 20-year career. And that's a group that includes quicksters such as Kansas' Adonis Jordan, Jacque Vaughn, Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Miles and UNC's Raymond Felton.

I believe that" from end to end with the ball that Ty's perhaps quicker than those guys attacks you more than those guys did Williams said.

When you add both of them together" it does add a little bit more to the way we like to play.""

Lawson's knack for pushing the tempo is one of the main reasons UNC has lit up the scoreboards thus far. In seven games the Tar Heels have eclipsed 100 points three times and came within two points of doing so against Oregon.

The Tar Heels might need a similar offensive showing in order to take down a hungry Spartan team playing a semi-home game and looking to prove its surprising loss against Maryland was an aberration.

If the Spartans want to neutralize Lawson and upset North Carolina" they might want to take a page out of Georgetown's play book. With their slowed-down style" the Hoyas knocked off the Tar Heels in the 2007 Elite 8 and are the only team Lawson said that kept him from breaking loose.

""Other than that"" there hasn't been a team that I've found that could control me.""



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.