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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tyler Hansbrough is supposed to beat you with a dunk.
Or a layup.
Or a power move to the basket resulting in a dunk or a layup.
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| Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Elllington and the Tar Heels are off to San Antonio. (AP) |
Un-f---ing-believable
North Carolina is headed to San Antonio.
That's what Saturday night's 83-73 victory over Louisville means.
The Tar Heels won their fourth game of this NCAA tournament by double digits and advanced to the 17th Final Four in school history. They'll now play the winner of Sunday's Kansas-Davidson game next Saturday in the Alamodome, where they'll be just two victories away from their fifth national title.
Credit Hansbrough as the reason.
Specifically, that killer jump shot of his.
The first came with 2½ minutes left, a dagger that gave North Carolina a 73-66 advantage. It was huge. But the Cards were still in it. They just needed to match. But Earl Clark turned it over on the subsequent possession and Hansbrough ended up with the ball again. And with the shot clock winding down, the All-American pump-faked Clark from outside the arc, took one dribble left, got one-foot inside the 3-point line and launched a jumper over Louisville's David Padgett that fell through the net with 95 seconds remaining and left Pitino mumbling expletives.
"Tyler Hansbrough made two shots that you prayed they were going to take, and it shows you what an All-American he is to make those shots because they were both challenging," Pitino said. "I was following the flight of the ball; he couldn't even see the basket. But that's what an All-American does -- makes those shots. He's a heckuva basketball player."
On that, we can all agree.
