Tyler Hansbrough is the Tar Heels' main man. (Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
UNC Handles Nova With Ease
Just one win away from reaching his goal of a national championship, senior forward Tyler Hansborough led his Tar Heels past Villanova in a dominating 83–69 victory.
Hansborough had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds and the big man also had a game-high four steals.His counterpart all season, junior point guard Ty Lawson, did his part with 22 points while dishing out a game-high eight assists for North Carolina (33–4, 13–3 ACC).
The Wildcats (30–8, 14–5 Big East) were led by none other than junior guard Scottie Reynolds whose last-second floater against Pitt got his team into the Final Four. Reynolds had 17 points along with five assists.
Villanova had to play an almost perfect game and shoot lights out, especially from behind the arc, to even have a chance of beating the ACC champions.
Nova ended up shooting 33 percent from the floor and just 5 of 27 for a meager 19 percent from three-point land in the loss.
Spartans Knock Off Big East Power…Again
The masked Raymar Morgan (left) and Kalin Lucas (background) run the Spartans. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Morgan’s scoring outburst came after he struggled since suffering from walking pneumonia, missing three games in mid-February. Morgan only scored seven points in the past three games before the 18-point explosion.
Head coach Tom Izzo has been looking for his broken-nosed, mask-wearing player to be more aggressive, and against UConn Morgan finally responded.
“We needed someone to step up, and he stepped up in a huge way,” Izzo said in his post-game press conference. “Not only rebounding the ball, not only defending, not only being physical down there, but the way he scored and what he did.”
UConn’s Hasheem Thabeet took advantage of MSU’s smaller line up, pacing the Huskies (31–5, 15–3 Big East) offense with 17 points. Thabeet contributed defensively with four blocks.
The trip to the finals is Michigan State’s first since winning it all back in 2000.
The loss for UConn marks the first time the team and head coach Jim Calhoun lost in the Final Four, as they had won the national championship in their two previous appearances in 1999 and 2004.
National Championship Preview
So the national championship game features North Carolina against the home state team, Michigan State. The two met for the ACC/Big Ten challenge back on December 3, and was actually played at Ford Field where the Tar Heels trounced the Spartans 98–63. You can throw that blowout out the window.
Both teams, especially Michigan State, are completely different teams.North Carolina has been the best team almost all season long, other than a few slip-ups. They were the best team coming into the season, they were the best team mid-season, and they look like the best team now.
That doesn’t mean the Spartans don’t have hope. MSU was suffering from injuries and still finding their identity in the blowout loss. Now Michigan State is rolling and peaking at the right time.
In the past three games, they have beaten the defending champion Kansas and two number one seeds in Louisville and UConn.
Even with this they will have trouble matching up with the Tar Heels—a team with four or five NBA-ready players.
As well as Kalin Lucas has played as of late, Ty Lawson is still on a completely different level and one of the best, if not the best point guard in the country.
Raymar Morgan finally broke out of his slump against UConn but he will have his hands full against Tyler Hansborough and the Tar Heels.
That leads to the key of the game, which is none other than Hansborough. One of the most decorated and accomplished college basketball players of all time came back for one reason, to play in and win this game.
Look for “Psycho T” to be “Psycho T” like no one has ever seen him before. With a national championship closer to his grasp than it has ever been before, Hansborough is going to come out with fire in his eyes and intensity even high for his standards.
So I’m going to Carolina in my mind in what should be an instant classic, unlike the early season match-up, as the Spartans will lay it all on the line for the hometown fans. But that just won’t be enough.
Carolina’s crowned national champion in the motor city with a 78–74 victory in what will go down as a classic tournament and national championship game.
Matt Sugam also writes for The Daily Targum at Rutgers University.
