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(03/31/08 4:00am)
Slideshow: UNC continues to the Final Four
CHARLOTTE - They won fast, and they won slow. They won big, and they won close. They won pretty, and they won ugly.
Now the Tar Heels are going to the Final Four to see if they can win some more.
Out to avenge last year's run that ended in the Elite Eight, North Carolina did just that, holding off Louisville 83-73 on Saturday at Charlotte Bobcats Arena.
(03/28/08 4:00am)
CHARLOTTE - Even the NCAA Tournament's top overall seed can play a little nervously sometimes.
Only four days after walloping Arkansas, the Tar Heels were slow to regain the powerful form they had in Raleigh during their game against Washington State on Thursday.
Once they did, though, they looked like the regular Tar Heels - and they didn't look back in blowing by the Cougars.
"A lot of that (hesitance) is the NCAA Tournament, kids wanting to do so well that they pressure themselves," UNC coach Roy Williams said.
That pressure got to Washington State scorers Kyle Weaver and Derrick Low, who felt the burden of carrying their team.
But early on, it slowed some Tar Heels, too.
Tyler Hansbrough faced one of the stiffest challenges he'd seen all season in Washington State's 6-foot-10-inch, 270-pound Australian Aron Baynes.
Up against such an imposing figure, Hansbrough was not the attacking forward fans have grown accustomed to this season, and he traded thunderous dunks for fallaways and jumpers.
"I told him, 'Don't press yourself; just relax and play the way you've played all year long,'" Williams said.
Hansbrough eventually started to hit his groove, and from then on he was in vintage form - snagging rebounds, going to the hoop aggressively and getting to the foul line.
And the rest of the Tar Heels followed the example he set, settling into their usual roles as the game developed.
On three straight possessions in the second half, Ty Lawson zipped right through the Cougars as they ran back on defense - and he dropped in a layup every time.
It was the Lawson whom UNC remembers from before his injury and the one whom Washington State tried to stop.
"You know, you try to get out there and pick him up and get the ball off him, but he gets so deep," Washington State coach Tony Bennett said after the game. "That was impressive; it certainly was."
And despite an unusual beginning to the first half, the final stat sheet seemed to fall in line with what North Carolina had done all year.
Hansbrough, Lawson and Wayne Ellington all reached double figures, as did Danny Green, who added key baskets off the bench. Quentin Thomas dished out four assists, and the Tar Heels out-rebounded Washington State 46-32.
"I do feel good about our offense; there is no question there," Williams said. "But I do think in the NCAA Tournament we have to relax a little more."
Even for Green, who had been hot-and-cold for the second half of the season - and cold lately - it took hitting a shot or two for him to hit his stride.
"I think just making one basket really kinda gets me going," Green said. "(Then just) playing good defense, diving on the floor, doing the little things to get the butterflies out."
North Carolina's butterflies were completely gone by the time Green's jumper put UNC up by 11 points late in the first half.
The Tar Heels led by at least that for the rest of the game.
In the end it was UNC's relentless persistence to play its style that paved the way for the 21-point win.
"We made them shoot 43 percent as a team," Bennett said. "But they do; they keep coming at you."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(03/28/08 4:00am)
SATURDAY -- CHARLOTTE - Tyler Hansbrough has already been named national player of the year, ACC player of the year and he'll have his jersey retired at the end of his North Carolina career.
Against Louisville, that didn't matter. The newfound Hansbrough title that mattered was this: clutch jump shooter.
Hansbrough stroked two key jump shots in the game's final minutes to preserve a tense North Carolina lead and pave the way to a 83-73 victory against Louisville, punching UNC's ticket to the Final Four next weekend in San Antonio.
"Well, to be honest with you, I kinda felt like they were both going in when they left," Hansbrough said. "I was confident."
The first jumper came when Hansbrough was left wide open at the free throw line while Louisville was in a zone defense.
Hansbrough caught a pass and with no hesitation, took one step forward and knocked down the shot.
"Everybody is confident in it," Marcus Ginyard said. "He's confident in it and we know he can make it."
The second came right in front of the UNC bench as the shot clock wound down. With no other options, Hansbrough turned and fired another dagger into Louisville's hopes.
The shots capped a 28-point performance for the All-American, and they accompanied 13 rebounds and strong defense on Louisville's David Padgett.
"That's what an All-American does, makes those shots, and he's a heck of a basketball player," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "I haven't seen a guy play every possession like that in a long time."
North Carolina seized a double-digit lead for most of the first half and headed into the locker room in control of their destiny.
But several quick foul calls early in the second half allowed Louisville to slice the deficit and dramatically changed the tone of the game.
The fouls put Deon Thompson, Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green all in trouble in the second half, but didn't limit the Tar Heel attack.
"They are focused young men," coach Roy Williams said. "They have dreams and hopes."
Those dreams and hopes include a trip to the Final Four, which the Tar Heels can now claim.
They also include more than the Final Four, and even in their celebration of an East Regional championship, UNC wasn't completely satisfied.
"My feelings right now are great," Hansbrough said. "But also, at the same time, I feel like we want to accomplish more. Marcus said something to me as we were walking in here, it feels like we did something big, but we can also do something bigger."
For now, though, they'll celebrate their most recent victory as they head back to Chapel Hill.
After slaying their first three NCAA tournament opponents and holding off a Louisville charge, they can't complain about being one of the few teams left standing.
"I'm not going to make an opening statement," Williams said to start his press conference after the game. "I'll tell you we're ecstatic."
(03/25/08 4:00am)
Basketball theorists often strategize, trying to predict how a team's past games can bode for its future.
Roy Williams is not one of those theorists.
"I don't get caught up in how well we played today and how that relates to how we'll play next weekend," Williams said.
He was asked after North Carolina's 108-77 blowout of Arkansas on Sunday if he wished the team's weekend games had been closer, so that his Tar Heels were put up to face a tougher test.
"It's good enough for me," Williams said.
"I'm a little old-fashioned, old school, whatever, and you have to play today.
(03/24/08 4:00am)
RALEIGH - Roy Williams challenged Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson a week ago, telling them they needed to step up their performances alongside Tyler Hansbrough in the post.
Sunday they responded with perfection.
The pair combined to make all 13 of their shots and accounted for 26 points in UNC's 108-77 rout of Arkansas, putting the finishing touches on an already potent Tar Heel rotation.
"When Deon and Alex can shoot the way they did today, I think we're unstoppable," Wayne Ellington said. "When those guys step up and do that, we don't have any weak link here."
After Thompson scored only eight points in all three games of the ACC Tournament, Williams sat down with him and implored him to step up his performance.
Thompson's minutes had been on the decline - especially those in the second half - and Williams told him playing time needs to be earned.
"The bottom line is you've got to produce," Williams said at his news conference a day after the ACC Tournament.
From the way Thompson and Stepheson played both Sunday and Friday, they got the message.
Their aggressive attacks of the boards throughout the weekend proved that they set out to right the ship, and as a bonus, they each got to throw down back-to-back dunks Friday.
"I felt like I got back to playing the way I know I can," Thompson said. "Last weekend was pretty bad."
They weren't perfect against Mount St. Mary's, but they were close. The duo combined to shoot 11-for-14 and netted 27 points together.
More importantly to the coach, they each grabbed eight rebounds.
"What Deon and Alex gave us inside that we haven't had recently was really a big plus for us," Williams said after Friday's game.
And Sunday, their perfect performance iced the cake on an already stellar weekend.
"I think Deon and Al were the X-factor for us," Hansbrough said.
Plus, a new wrinkle emerged.
In a move unseen all season, Stepheson stroked a deep jump shot early in the first half to extend UNC's 15-point lead even further.
It must have fired him up. In Arkansas' next trip down the floor, he altered a dunk attempt by Michael Washington, forcing the Razorback to miss.
"It was definitely fun just to be physical out there," Stepheson said. "They're fighting me. I'm fighting them. They're blocking shots. I'm blocking shots. . I love that."
He also realizes the importance of post play.
"We've been needing something from that four spot, and I think it's about time, especially around the tournament, that it steps up," Stepheson said.
For Thompson, that step up started with a different practice strategy this week.
"We worked hard in practice about shooting shots that he shoots in the game," Williams said.
"I even got a tape and showed part of his routine for 10 straight practices, and he was not shooting the shots he shoots in a game, and I think he got refocused."
Evidently, the pair is out of the coach's doghouse.
"You know, Tyler said that it helped to have Deon and Alex getting rebounds, and it really does," Williams said.
But there's always room to improve - Thompson grabbed only a single rebound Sunday.
Or as Williams put it, "Deon only got one more than my wife."
Contact the Sports Editor
at sports@unc.edu.
(03/20/08 4:00am)
Check out another article on Friday's game at: http://media.www.dailytarheel.com/media/storage/paper885/news/2008/03/20/Sports/Tar-Heels.Fix.D.In.Second.Half-3278677.shtml
RALEIGH -- North Carolina scored 60 points by halftime, ripped off six more in the first minute of the second half, and spent the rest of the game chasing its all-time NCAA scoring record of 123 points, set against Loyola Marymount in 1988.
The Tar Heels didn't get there, but they came close, walloping Mount Saint Mary's 113-74 Friday night as they cruised into the tournament's second round and added to their highlight reel in the process.
"We are more gifted than they are, and our guys really had a great workman-like attitude about playing the game," head coach Roy Williams said.
UNC topped the 100-point mark with 4:39 left in the game, the first time the Tar Heels had reached 100 points in the NCAA tournament since 1993.
And maybe most importantly, both Ty Lawson and Deon Thompson returned to peak form.
Lawson poured in 21 points and showed no ill effects from playing three games in three days on a damaged ankle last week in the ACC Tournament.
Thompson, who had a chat with Williams earlier in the week about his performance, attacked the glass for eight rebounds, dropped in 15 points and earned a much more positive review from his coach.
"What Deon and Alex (Stepheson) gave us inside that we haven't had recently was a really a big plus for us," Williams said.
Mount St. Mary's tried the dangerous strategy of running along with the fast-breaking Tar Heels, and for much of the first half, it worked.
The Mountaineers beat the Tar Heels down the court several times for easy layups and racked up 41 points in the first half alone.
Problem was, UNC already had 60 by then.
And when Mount Saint Mary's went to zone defense, trying to slow down the pace on their half of the court, UNC picked it apart with inside shots and offensive rebounds.
"I just feel they pushed us," Lawson said. "They pushed the ball up and down the court like we did, so we had to react to it."
In the second half, the highlights came early and often.
Stepheson threw down thunderous dunks on back-to-back possessions, and then Thompson pulled the same back-to-back dunk routine minutes later.
Lawson grabbed a steal, sprinted down the court, spun to shake a defense and hit a layup to get in on the act.
And even senior Surry Wood threw down one for the ages, slamming home an alley-oop from Marc Campbell after the Tar Heel reserves took the court.
The only blooper came courtesy of Marcus Ginyard, who botched a wide-open one-handed dunk in the second half, then had to sit on the bench and hear his teammates rib him for it.
Ginyard looked like he slowed his momentum right before he went up for the dunk, but he evidently slowed too much.
Such was not the case for the Tar Heels, who pushed ahead full-throttle from the game's start.
And in maybe the biggest statistical oddity of them all, reserve Jack Wooten, who poured in the first five points of his career, outscored Danny Green, who only had two.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu
(03/18/08 4:00am)
As his North Carolina team learned their NCAA Tournament path Sunday, Roy Williams said he was repeatedly shocked.
But he tempered that shock with a dose of relief that he isn't a member of the committee that sets the bracket.
"They have no way of winning completely," Williams said at his news conference Monday.
"It's too confusing. Anybody can stand up and make a case that sounds good. And the next person can get up and make a case that sounds good."
(02/29/08 5:00am)
Ty Lawson could return to the court for the first time in seven games Saturday - it'll just happen about 700 miles away.
Lawson practiced lightly Wednesday and Thursday and could be a go for minimal minutes in Chestnut Hill, Mass., against Boston College.
"Ty yesterday in practice went up and down the court in three-on-zero and five-on-zero situations," coach Roy Williams said in his news conference Thursday. "Nothing where there was a defense. He did some shooting, and that was it."
(02/28/08 5:00am)
With each win, North Carolina edges closer to the top ranking in the Associated Press poll, but UNC is already No. 1 in rebounding.
fall.
And it's not even close.
The Tar Heels have proven themselves to be the most dominant team in the country on the boards, averaging 12 more rebounds than their opponents every game.
Only twice this season have the Tar Heels been out-rebounded, and both came during Thanksgiving break's Las Vegas Invitational.
Since then, UNC has won the battle for the boards in every single game - usually by double-digits.
(02/21/08 5:00am)
RALEIGH - Roy Williams loves to win games with depth.
His national championship team in 2005 regularly played nine and sometimes 10 players, giving the starters plenty of rest.
Wednesday against N.C. State, Williams won using just the opposite.
Despite employing essentially a six-man rotation, North Carolina was the fresher, more energetic team, and it showed during a second half that UNC dominated, stretching its lead to 20 points on multiple occasions.
While much ado has been made about who is unfit to play for the Tar Heels, Williams has been thrilled with those who are on the floor.
"We've got some guys who can play," Williams said. "And they played pretty doggone well."
Junior Tyler Hansbrough was only able to rest for three minutes, and Wayne Ellington only sat two against the Wolfpack, but the relentless duo combined for 53 points, looking vigorous and feeding off each other's energy.
"He's not going to give in," N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said of Hansbrough. "He's not going to let you take him out of the game."
With every Ellington jump shot or Hansbrough layup that sunk through the net, the two Tar Heels seemed to raise their energy. And that only fed the rest of the team.
"They still have too many weapons," Lowe said.
Marcus Ginyard and Quentin Thomas - who are supposed to give each other a breather when one is playing point guard - both topped 30 minutes and made the most of their time on the court.
Ginyard dropped in a crucial 13 points, and Thomas tied a career-high with 10 points.
The Tar Heels' biggest jolt came midway through the first half when Ginyard grabbed a steal and drove down the lane. The N.C. State players stepped aside, and, as Ginyard said, "the waters were parted like they did in the Bible," so he dunked the ball unguarded.
How was Ginyard able to stay so energized despite playing 32 minutes?
"I don't know," Ginyard said. "I was thinking about that too, just thinking about how old I was feeling, but I still had the energy to go in there and dunk it."
The Tar Heels were forced to play with a short bench when starter Deon Thompson sat for almost the entire second half because of lingering stiffness in his knee.
"He just felt like he couldn't go and be effective in the second half," Williams said. "I decided to let him try to play the first two or three minutes to see if he could go, and he couldn't."
Thompson finished with only two points in just 13 minutes, but fellow forward Alex Stepheson picked up his slack, snagging four offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, Lowe was trying to play as many men as he could.
The coach used nine players in the first half alone, but his tinkering couldn't find the right chemistry.
On the other side, the Tar Heels found a winning rotation that complemented each other's vigor.
Said Hansbrough: "It just shows you we can keep playing if we have that type of energy."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(02/20/08 5:00am)
For its rubber match against rival Chapel Hill High, East Chapel Hill High wanted to use its speed.
So the Wildcats, atypical of their style, applied a constant full-court press.
Four quarters of nonstop pressure later, East Chapel Hill emerged with a 57-50 win against Chapel Hill High in the first round of the PAC-6 Conference Tournament.
"That's probably out of character for us," East Chapel Hill coach Ray Hartsfield said of the press.
"But it was our game plan, and the kids bought into it."
In front of a crowd mixed from both schools that erupted after each of the game's three dunks and that came to see if the underdog Tigers could topple the Wildcats, East Chapel Hill roused from an early slumber to dictate the game's pace.
Students from both schools jeered the referees and each team's cheerleaders steadily increased their volume while urging on the players against their crosstown friends.
By virtue of its record, East had earned the right to host the third match of the season series though home court was no advantage until Tuesday night's game.
In the season's previous two contests, both Chapel Hill and East Chapel Hill had won as the visitor.
Tuesday looked to be much of the same as the underdog Tigers jumped to a four-point lead in the first quarter behind six early points from forward John Small.
Small relentlessly attacked the basket and spent as much time at the free throw line as Tyler Hansbrough, going 6-for-8 from the stripe in the first half.
"They played harder than we did," Hartsfield said.
As the press started to wear down Chapel Hill in the second quarter, East Chapel Hill's Ty Alston broke open a knotted game with back-to-back 3-pointers.
East Chapel Hill rolled with that momentum to a 16-point lead in the second half and went into a stall offense as early as midway through the third quarter.
But Chapel Hill was not about to be ousted.
The Tigers slowly yet surely chipped away at the lead, finally narrowing the gap to four points with 36 seconds left.
"I wish we would have put them away better," Hartsfield said. "We didn't take care of the basketball, and they crept back in it."
Then Hartsfield's Wildcats, led by Alston with 11 points and Jevaris Quinn with 10, hit enough free throws to ice the game and advance to the second round.
"They're seniors, and they understand it's win or go home," Hartsfield said.
Guard Josh Morrison poured in 12 points for Chapel Hill. Imposing center Rob Crisp scored 11 points, and Small dropped in 10.
For Alston, playing in front of a familiar crowd took a back seat to executing his team's plan.
"Crosstown rivalry, determined play, we just wanted to take what they gave us," he said. "Just keep everything in between the lines."
Contact the City Editor at citydesk@unc.edu.
(02/14/08 5:00am)
Preston Puckett relaxed in front of a TV, enthralled - like much of the rest of the sports nation - by the Indianapolis Colts-New England Patriots AFC Championship game last year.
The Sunday night was cold and rainy - most people stayed indoors.
Then his phone rang. It was Marcus Ginyard.
"Hey," Ginyard said to Puckett. "Let's go looking for houses."
"And I'm like, 'That sums up the guy I'm about to move in with,'" Puckett said. "He wants to leave during a football game that everyone else can't pull themselves away from."
(02/13/08 5:00am)
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - While Quentin Thomas has played more minutes and Marcus Ginyard has switched positions, it's Tyler Hansbrough who has really picked up the slack during Ty Lawson's absence.
Averaging just more than 21 points before last Wednesday's game against Duke, Hansbrough scored 28 against the Blue Devils then followed it up with 39 against Clemson.
At Virginia, Hansbrough racked up the points when his team needed them the most.
As North Carolina clung to a two-point lead and tried to run down the clock, Hansbrough dropped in one of his signature shots to extend the Tar Heel lead to four points with just 22 seconds left.
"Tyler Hansbrough was something else again," UNC coach Roy Williams said, "'cause they aimed their defense at him to say the least and he still came through for us."
A day after sitting out of practice because of an ingrown toenail - Williams said it was one of the few practices he could remember Hansbrough missing - he showed no ill effects.
The way he scored his final basket, a one-arm shot with his shoulders sideways to the hoop, was vintage Hansbrough.
"We like to think it's a jump hook, but it's not," Williams said. "It's a shot put, jump hook, Hansbrough special. Whatever you want to call it."
Regardless of verbiage, the shot capped another fierce Hansbrough performance, albeit one that was derailed for a long stretch in the second half.
Hansbrough roared to 17 first-half points on a mix of his typical inside moves and several jump shots from all across the court.
Well on his way to another high-scoring performance, the power forward came out of the locker room at halftime and didn't score a point for 15 minutes.
After demanding the ball in the post, his teammates found him again with five minutes left in the game.
He converted a spin move into a layup, and less than a minute later he hit two free throws to get himself firmly back on track.
"My team needed me in that situation," Hansbrough said.
"Coach said get the ball inside, so I took it upon myself to get the ball and do some things inside."
Not usually one to attempt to block many shots, Hansbrough swatted away two of Sean Singletary's tries - the second leading to a fast-break layup for Ginyard.
And though his stats were atypically low for rebounds (seven) and free throws (3-for-5), Williams was proud of the way Hansbrough again led the team in Lawson's absence, finishing with 23 points.
"The bottom line is, the sucker can really play," Williams said. "He's been a load for a lot of people."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(02/11/08 5:00am)
View photos from the game and video.
Clemson's James Mays, all alone in the open, court, hauled in a pass, took a monster step and threw down a dunk to open the game.
When Tyler Hansbrough turned to inbound the ball, there was orange everywhere.
(01/31/08 5:00am)
Taking stock of his Tar Heels, especially of the woes, laments and criticisms leveled at the team's defense as of late, Roy Williams put it simply:
"It's not where I want it to be," Williams said at his news conference Wednesday. "But it's good enough to be 19-1."
Not about to fall into the pit of panic that started with close calls at Clemson and Georgia Tech and then picked up steam with a home loss to Maryland, Williams said the Tar Heels are edging closer to his defensive demands.
"It's not that far from being a pretty good defensive team," Williams said. "It really isn't. Coach (Dean) Smith left a message after the Miami game and said, 'I thought you were a lot better defensively, they just made some shots.'"
Tonight the Tar Heels return to the scene of their only failure - the 82-80 loss to Maryland.
With fresh legs, they'll welcome Boston College to the Smith Center after an extraordinarily long regular season layoff.
UNC hasn't played for a full week since beating Miami, and in that week they have had two days off, two light practices and three full practices.
"I hope mentally it helped them more than anything," Williams said. "I was trying to help them get their legs back 'cause it's a marathon that we're trying to run here."
Searching for a time in his coaching career when his team has had an eight-day break during conference play, Williams found nothing.
"I don't know that I've ever had one," he said.
Any Tar Heel rust will need to be brushed off quickly - especially at point guard.
Boston College brings Tyrese Rice and his 20 points per game into a stellar matchup against Ty Lawson.
"I really believe it's his team," Williams said of Rice. "And I believe he plays like it, acts like it, talks like it, walks like it."
Marcus Ginyard played AAU basketball with both Rice and Lawson - though that was about eight years ago - and said that Lawson is undoubtedly faster but that Rice's determination can lift him to another level.
"I just hope that Ty takes this as a personal challenge," Ginyard said. "I want him to really push."
And in the paint for Boston College lurks 6-foot-11 senior Tyrelle Blair, the conference's top shot blocker (4.3 blocks per game) by a mile.
"You have to coach guys how to play against a shot blocker," Williams said. "Most guys think you go in there and you double and triple pump . (but) the toughest block is when a guy takes it right at your face."
After tonight's game, the Tar Heels won't get an extended break for the next month - which might not be bad.
"I was dying after the Maryland game, but you know what happened?" Williams said. "We played another one."
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(11/26/07 5:00am)
LAS VEGAS - Used to banging down low in the paint, Tyler Hansbrough found himself sliding around the 3-point line Saturday, 20 feet from where he normally goes to work.
This was something new - Hansbrough hasn't had to guard many 3-point shooters in his UNC career.
But such was the challenge that BYU's Jonathan Tavernari presented. The 6-foot-6-inch sophomore from Brazil is listed as a forward but spent most of the game firing longballs against the Tar Heels, with Hansbrough assigned to cover him.
"We knew he was a good shooter," Hansbrough said. "From the first half, we tried to jump on him. He hit some tough shots."
Tavernari finished with 18 points - all on 3-pointers. He went the last 16 minutes of the game without a point as the Tar Heels wore him down by rotating defenders.
"It was kind of a challenge for Tyler, but I think Tyler did a good job on him," said Danny Green, who also spent time guarding Tavernari. "There's not much you can do about someone that's hot, especially when they're hitting jump shots with a hand in their face."
Meanwhile, Hansbrough was filing a typical performance, scoring 21 points and going 9-for-9 from the line.
Hansbrough even came up with a surprise defensive play as he snatched the ball from BYU's Trent Plaisted - who starred for the Cougars with 24 points and 17 rebounds ---with a minute left in the game.
His championship-game performance was a strong follow-up to the semifinal game against Old Dominion, where Hansbrough exploded for 27 points.
He faced a unique challenge in that game, as well, albeit of a much different type.
Old Dominion put 7-foot-3-inch center Sam Harris on Hansbrough for much of the game, and when Hansbrough got the ball in the post, Harris would drape over him like a tree.
That didn't stop Hansbrough from powering around and through Harris, using a variety of spin moves and pump fakes.
"To be honest with you, I kind of like it because that means that I get to move outside sometimes and try to go around guys," Hansbrough said. "I was comfortable with it; he does have longer reach, but I still felt like I was going up pretty good."
Hansbrough drew three fouls on Harris in the first half, and the ODU center finished with only five points and four rebounds.
Hansbrough earned most valuable player honors for the Las Vegas Invitational, but his effort during the weekend was an affirmation for Williams that the forward - as well as point guard Ty Lawson - is working hard to continue the upward momentum.
"I've said all along that those two guys consistently through the preseason probably got better in five weeks of preseason work than anybody else," Williams said.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@email.unc.edu.
(11/26/07 5:00am)
Also read "Hansbrough does it all in Las Vegas"
LAS VEGAS -- One game, Ty Lawson was the star. The next game, he was the sore.
Lawson blazed down the floor for fast break layups, pouring in a career-high 23 points to pace North Carolina to a 99-82 victory against Old Dominion in the Las Vegas Invitational semifinals Friday.
(11/20/07 5:00am)
LAS VEGAS - A trip across three time zones, the first of six straight games away from home and a weekend in Sin City all threatened to bog down the Tar Heels in the semifinals of the Las Vegas Invitational.
A 31-26 Old Dominion lead in the first half gave those threats credence.
But behind vintage performances from Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson, the Tar Heels gained their bearing to roll to a 99-82 victory.
Lawson poured in a career-high 23 points and Hansbrough had 27 of his own. Both contributed to the Tar Heels shooting 71 percent for the game, their highest percentage of the Roy Williams era.
"Offensively we were pretty doggone good," Williams said, but he tempered it with his disappointment in their defense.
"We kept talking about trying to guard them better and play better defense," Williams said. "But we never really did get it established defensively."
In fact, Williams started his postgame press conference by examining the stat sheet and trying to figure out how the Tar Heels won when Old Dominion shot 55 percent and outrebounded UNC 30-24.
"If we guard like that tomorrow night, it'll be a long, long night."
Tomorrow night will not feature college basketball's dream matchup against No. 7 Louisville. The Cardinals lost to Brigham Young, 78-76 in the game before the Tar Heels, so UNC will take on BYU for the Invitational championship.
If the Tar Heels get similar performances from Lawson and Hansbrough, they'll be in good shape.
Lawson scored most of his points on trademark fast break layups, where he caught the defense with their heads turned and blew by them to the hoop. But he also went 2-for-2 from behind the arc.
"Over the summer I probably took about 400 shots per day," Lawson said. "Just to work on things like that, because I knew that Tyler was getting doubled, and we're going to need an outside threat this year."
Hansbrough, meanwhile, faced a different challenge. Old Dominion started Sam Harris, a 7-foot-3 center from Tanzania, who draped Hansbrough whenever he got the ball in the post. Hansbrough used a variety of spin moves and pump fakes to get his points, and he racked up three first-half fouls on Harris.
The offense chugged along on Friday, and Williams had no complaints with his team's attack.
But too often, he watched them get beat on back door cuts or dribble penetration from the speedy Old Dominion guards. That needs to change, he said, in preparation for Saturday's championship.
"We tried hard but we didn't connect our brain quite as much nor did we anticipate what they were doing," he said. "If you don't play defense early against BYU, the way they pass the ball, it's going to be a long night."
Other tidbits: Wayne Ellington dropped in 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting . the Tar Heels only turned the ball over nine times . a big aid to the Tar Heels came when Old Dominion star guard Brandon Johnson went to the bench with four fouls just two minutes into the second half. Johnson had 14 points in the first half, with Lawson guarding him. "We told him he was a very good player and he had 14 points at halftime," Williams said. "So we didn't have to say anything else about it.".Old Dominion went to a zone defense early in the game, and came back to it several times. It didn't faze the Tar Heels, who scored on it both inside and outside. "In practice, we've been really good against the zone," Williams said. "I'm not worried about people zoning us." . Five players scored in double figures for the Monarchs, who made 10-of-23 three pointers. . Like the game against Iona, Hansbrough had another breakaway dunk after a steal. This time, the defender didn't try to foul Hansbrough as he flushed it home and let out his typical roar.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(11/20/07 5:00am)
LAS VEGAS - The Tar Heels came upon a crucial roadblock early in the season: life without Lawson.
Ty Lawson rolled his right ankle just two minutes into Saturday's Las Vegas Invitational championship against Brigham Young, and the injury sent him to the bench for the rest of the game.
In his stead, the Tar Heels pulled out a gritty and at times testy 73-63 win against BYU to take the championship.
"At halftime, I told them (Ty) is not going to play," said head coach Roy Williams. "So let's not feel sorry for ourselves and say woe is me. We've got guys that say North Carolina on their shirt, and whoever's put in there, they've got to rise to the standard that we need."
Rise they did, though they couldn't pull away from the Cougars until the final minute. BYU star forward kept his team in the game with 24 points and 17 rebounds, scoring on a variety of post moves with a variety of Tar Heels guarding him.
"He was sensational almost all of the second half," Williams said. "He kicked our tails for a long time."
And forward Jonathan Tavernari scored all of his 18 points from behind the three-point arc to help BYU's cause.
"I was very impressed," Williams said of the pair. "I told both of them they were big time players."
The Tar Heels got 21 points from Tyler Hansbrough, 15 from Wayne Ellington and 14 from Danny Green, and that trio salted the game away from the free throw line in the final minute.
"(Coach) was telling me that I've got to give him something positive," Green said. "So I was trying my best to give him something positive, saying stay focused, keep in there, knock down your shots."
Ellington provided the biggest shot of the game - he nailed a three-pointer from beyond NBA range with 2:03 left in the game that extended the UNC lead to six points.
BYU's outside shooting disappeared in the final minutes as the Cougars couldn't cut into the lead.
"Our depth was important because we kept running a lot of guys in and out," Williams said. "And at the end of the game, they missed a bunch of threes because I think their legs were a little tired."
As the game went back and forth in the second half before the Tar Heels were able to pull away, the Las Vegas crowd - UNC dominated throughout the tournament - booed loudly several times at no-calls by the referees.
The game turned rough-and-tumble for a little while, which incensed both Williams and BYU coach Dave Rose.
"For a while, we were playing football under our basket and we were playing football under the other basket too cause we're knocking the dickens out of them and they're knocking the dickens out of us," Williams said.
That's why his team's ability to pull the game out sends Williams home a happy camper. The Tar Heels are now 5-0 for the first time since Williams' first season in 2003-04.
"Anytime it's that kind of game where you start getting a little tired and you have to dig deep, I think the toughness was something I was impressed with," he said.
Other tidbits: Hansbrough was in the unique situation of playing lots of his defense outside of the three-point arc as he guarded Tavernari. The Brazilian sophomore is listed as a forward at 6 feet, 6 inches, but spent most of his time outside. He launched 20 shots and hit six of them; all the makes were three-pointers. "He's pretty much like an outside player," Danny Green said of Tavernari. "He shot a lot of jump shots. He can hit it with a hand in his face. So it was kind of a challenge for Tyler but I think Tyler did a good job on him.". UNC held BYU without a point for a 3:41 stretch late in the second half when the Tar Heels were able to pull away. . Hansbrough finished 9-for-9 from the free throw line, and the Tar Heels as a team were 23-for-30. . Lawson said the injury is a new thing for him. "I've never really rolled my ankle, or sprained my ankle like this before, so I really don't know how long it will be," he said. "It's a first-time experience." He got his ankle iced and taped right after the injury, but he said he didn't feel it was in good enough condition to play. . The Tar Heels shot 41 percent for the game after shooting 71 percent on Friday against Old Dominion. . Hansbrough was named Most Valuable Player of the Las Vegas Invitational; Ellington and Green were both named to the all-tournament team.
Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.
(11/19/07 5:00am)
Also read "Little things plague UNC"
ATLANTA - Connor Barth thought his kick was good. He really did.
"That ball felt good off my foot," he said. "I would have loved to see the outcome of that one, 'cause it might have been in."
Barth never got the chance to find out if his 63-yard attempt - his career-high make is from 54 - would have split the uprights to give the Tar Heels the win.