ABOVE THE RIM: Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough meet at a familiar place in Sunday’s Elite Eight contest. (Joe Murphy/Getty Images)
Hansbrough had a quiet game for his standards after picking up two early fouls and playing only nine first half minutes. The senior scored eight points and pulled down six boards, but got help from teammates Ty Lawson and Danny Green.
Junior guard Lawson had 19 points, five assists, and three steals, leading his team in each category, while senior guard/forward Green chipped in with 18 points for the Tar Heels (32–4, 13–3 ACC).
North Carolina dominated the Oklahoma all game long, beginning the game with a 7–0 run and never looking back.
Griffin did his part for the Sooners (30–6, 13–3 Big 12), despite constant double teams, recording yet another double-double with 23 points and 16 rebounds. But it was not enough as his team was woeful from beyond the arc going just 2 for 19 and not hitting a three until well into the second half.
The Tar Heels are now off to their record-setting 18th Final Four and ninth in last 19 seasons. They will move on to face the East Regional champion Villanova Wildcats who upset the Pitt Panthers on Saturday.
DUNKS OVER CARDINALS: Michigan State’s Chris Allen dunks over Terrence Jennings of Louisville in Sunday’s early Elite Eight contest. (Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
Spartans Heading Home—Kind of
With a win in the Midwest Regional final over Big East regular season and tournament champion Louisville, the Michigan State Spartans are heading to Detroit for the Final Four at Ford field in what feels like a homecoming.
After defeating the No.1 overall seeded Cardinals (31–6, 16–2 Big East) 64–52, the Spartans (30–6, 15–3 Big Ten) have to head just 90 miles from their campus in East Lansing to the Final Four.
As for playing so close to home Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo said following the game, “Detroit here we come. I can’t tell you how much I’m looking forward to that.”
The Spartans can also look forward to playing another Big East team as they will play the West Regional champion Connecticut on Saturday. By defeating the Cardinals, Michigan State prevented a Final Four that could’ve had three Big East teams.
Senior Garon Sutton led the way for the Spartans with a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Michigan State is now headed to the Final Four for the fifth time in the last 11 years.
Louisville was shut down offensively after exploding for 103 points against the No. 12 seeded Arizona Wildcats, the only “Cinderella” team to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
Junior forward Earl Clark led the way for the Cardinals with 17 points, but his team was not clicking on all cylinders like they were in their Sweet Sixteen victory.
The Cardinals were only able to shoot a meager 38.3 percent from the field and their troubles in the game were summed up in the final 5:18 of the game, as they were unable to hit a field goal.
The loss snapped a 14-game winning streak and was the second straight year the Cardinals were bounced in a regional final.
Matt Sugam also writes for The Daily Targum at Rutgers University.
