Heels tough out win against OU

MARCH 29 MEMPHIS Tenn. — It wasn't the picturesque offensive performance that defines many North Carolina games. Not even close actually.

But at this point in March aesthetic value means little. All that mattered to the Tar Heels on Sunday was the scoreboard" and the gritty 72-60 win against Oklahoma gives them their much-desired Final Four date with Villanova on Saturday in Detroit.

""This team has dealt with a great deal of adversity" Roy Williams said. And they've got us going to Detroit" and we're excited about that.""

And although there was a celebration following the final whistle"" the vibe was that this is not the end-all goal.

""This definitely is not what it's all about. We've already been to the Final Four. We want to get past that" Wayne Ellington said. We understand that we've got a lot of work to do" and we're not satisfied at all.""

Although the Tar Heels played two quality opponents during the weekend" they trailed just twice during the entire 80 minutes (during the first minute on Friday).

Against Gonzaga UNC shot 52.9 percent from the floor with just nine turnovers while playing at its usual fast pace during a 98-77 win.

But on Sunday that offensive train came to a screeching halt — OU made no attempt to run with the Tar Heels.

So instead of its usual up-and-down pace UNC settled down for a half-court slug-fest against the nation's premier heavyweight" Blake Griffin.

The Tar Heels threw double and triple teams at him. They sent him to the foul line. They hacked him on the floor. Didn't matter.

The 6-foot-10-inch beast continually got into the paint and threw down several did-you-see-that dunks that delighted the crowd. He scored 11 in the first half to keep OU within nine at 32-23 and ended the night with 23 points and 16 rebounds.

""He is LeBron James-like" and he's got such a package of strength explosiveness touch power" Williams said.

But a basketball is a five-man game, and that was never more evident than Sunday.

The Tyler Hansbrough-Blake Griffin battle turned into a huge dud thanks to Hansbrough's early fouls and lack of offensive production. So instead, UNC went with a spread-the-wealth approach on offense in the half-court sets.

Danny Green was the poster child for that trend with 14 first-half points (he ended with 18), and after the intermission Ty Lawson amped up his game once again.

The point guard hit timely 3s and finally forced a little pace on OU for some easy UNC buckets. Lawson finished with 19 points and grabbed the regional MVP award with a combined 14 assists and just two turnovers while showing few effects of his well-publicized toe injury.

I think it's the toe that actually helped me" because I don't really go as fast. So I've got time to … make the right decision" he said. Maybe I don't want my toe to get better.""

UNC put up one of its best defensive games of the season — while Griffin got his points" the other Sooners were nonexistent.

OU missed its first 15 3-pointers and the Tar Heels were able to force 16 turnovers while holding every Sooner except Griffin and Juan Pattillo to less than 40 percent shooting. And once UNC contained Griffin a little during the second half" the lead ballooned to 61-40.

""Today we were really swarming" we were flying around guys were helping each other Bobby Frasor said. We would double down on Blake and he would kick it out" but we'd have a guy there. Then they'd move it one more — we'd have a guy there. We were recovering great.""

Still"" multiple Tar Heel turnovers led to a sloppy ending and allowed OU to get within 12 multiple times before UNC used free-throw shooting to sew up its second consecutive Final Four trip and 100th NCAA Tournament victory.

""It felt great. I mean I've felt a lot of pressure" just felt a relief Hansbrough said of cutting down the net. There's been a lot of expectations on this team … for me" it feels good to be going back.""