Tar Heels hold it together for 83-73 victory

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- This time, North Carolina got to celebrate instead of heading to the locker room to wait for next year. Tyler Hansbrough and his top-seeded Tar Heels just wouldn’t be denied a trip to the Final Four again.

Hansbrough had 28 points and 13 rebounds Saturday night to help the Tar Heels hold off Louisville, 83-73, in the East Regional final. Playing in front of a partisan home-state crowd, they reached the national semifinals for the first time since winning the championship in 2005.

The Tar Heels (36-2) advanced to play the Kansas-Davidson winner next Saturday at San Antonio.

Ty Lawson had 11 points -- including an important three-pointer with about five minutes left -- for North Carolina. The Tar Heels blew a 12-point halftime lead, then broke away from a tie at 59 to earn their 17th trip to the Final Four.

It was a reversal of last year’s regional final in which the Tar Heels fell apart down the stretch, wasted a double-digit lead in the second half and lost to Georgetown in overtime.

“That was in the back of a lot of our minds,” Hansbrough said. “The difference this year was that we handled that a lot better and we came down and got some points, and just fought back until we had a run.”

The Tar Heels have won all four of their games in this tournament by double digits. All four victories came in their home state.

Battling against David Padgett in a physical contest inside, Hansbrough made 12 of 17 shots in 38 minutes and was selected regional MVP. Lawson had nine assists while operating as a one-man press break against the third-seeded Cardinals (27-9) and their full-court defense all night.

Jerry Smith scored 17 points to lead Louisville, which shot 53% and gave the Tar Heels all they could handle, but North Carolina came through.

First, with the Tar Heels clinging to a 68-64 lead, Lawson came around the baseline and knocked down a three-pointer from the corner in front of his bench that pushed the margin to seven.

Then, after a basket from Earl Clark inside, Hansbrough made a straightaway jump shot over the 6-foot-11 Padgett to make it 73-66 with 2:27 to play.

The Tar Heels went eight for eight at the foul line to seal it in the final minute.