Friday, March 20, 2009
Basketball / ACC / UNC-Chapel Hill Sans Lawson, Heels dump Radford
Posted by Rob Harrington @Rob_Harrington on Fri, Mar 20, 2009 at 2:43 PM
TV/CBS — We may never know for certain whether Roy Williams was sandbagging the extent of Ty Lawson's toe injury, the continuation of which has caused great consternation throughout the North Carolina fanbase.
But if the Hall of Fame coach made a calculated decision to hold Lawson out for one more game due to his belief that the Tar Heels could handle Radford without its star point guard, he guessed correctly.
Dominating the game from start to finish, No. 1 seed UNC battered the No. 16 Highlanders 101-58 on Thursday afternoon to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
While Lawson's big toe has become a national story, Tyler Hansbrough somewhat quietly broke J.J. Redick's all-time ACC scoring record. Hansbrough shot just 5-for-16 from the floor but scored 22 points thanks to 12-for-12 shooting from the foul line.
Junior wing Wayne Ellington continued his outstanding play, leading all scorers with 25 points, and he added eight rebounds and three assists. Of the four players likely to take a look at the NBA in the offseason — seniors Hansbrough and Danny Green, and juniors Lawson and Ellington — the silky guard from Pennsylvania actually may have been the team's best player over the past couple weeks.
In all, it was a complete domination. Carolina held Radford to 28 percent shooting for the game, and field goal percentage defense certainly has not been a hallmark of this team.
The Heels will play LSU — a winner over Butler in the first round — on Saturday evening, and again, there's no clear word on Lawson.
To see the UNC/Radford box score, click here.
- To create paragraphs in your comment, type <p> at the start of a paragraph and </p> at the end of each paragraph.
- To create bold text, type <b>bolded text</b> (please note the closing tag, </b>).
- To create italicized text, type <i>italicized text</i> (please note the closing tag, </i>).
- Proper web addresses will automatically become links.
Latest in Triangle Offense
-
Shake-up unfolding in NASL front office staff, per internal league memo
The changes, which will all take effect by the end of this month, including a new Director of Operations and Director of Communications for the NASL.
- May 17, 2013
-
Mudcats' woes get worse with late Salem comeback
Red Sox deal Mudcats ninth straight loss at home.
- May 15, 2013
-
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup potential third round matches announced, including possible return visit by L.A. Galaxy to Cary to face RailHawks
The L.A. Galaxy will visit the winner of Tuesday's Open Cup match between the Carolina RailHawks and Carolina Dynamo.
- May 15, 2013
- More »
More by Rob Harrington
-
Heels set to represent Triangle in ACC finale
Tomorrow afternoon, UNC will attempt to win its first conference tournament crown since 2008.
- Mar 17, 2013
-
Tar Heels' February push owes to more than P.J. Hairston
In this case, the fans had it right all along, even as Roy Williams consistently responded to queries about Hairston with a combination of deflection and sarcasm.
- Feb 21, 2013
- More »
