FanHouse Hansbrough

Tyler Hansbrough put another page in the book which will be his North Carolina legend. The sophomore center ditched his face-mask in the 1st half of Carolina's game with Michigan State ... then went on to score 33 points and grab 9 rebounds to lead his Tar Heels to a 81-64 victory and a spot in next week's Sweet 16.

Hansbrough began the game with the mask on and made two of his first three shots of the game. He took his normal time to sit for a second, but re-entered the game with about 12 minutes left in the first half sans mask. He immediately went to work, hitting his first shot attempt, then attacked the rim with a few missed shots that he'd rebound and then was fouled. That really set the tone for this game. Hansbrough would hit 7 of his last 10 shots, hit 13 of his 17 free throws and kept Michigan State rotating foul-ridden big men to try to hold him down.

And it isn't all just stat stuffing he did. The Spartans were running Drew Neitzel off screens to great effect early on. Well, Hansbrough did an outstanding job showing on those screens and forcing Neitzel from putting up a good shot [if he even attempted one]. He also was a key member of a front line that limited easy baskets for the Spartans.

All that was made all the more bigger with frontcourt mate Brandan Wright hobbled with foul problems and just bad play.

The Tar Heels will play the winner of the tomorrows Texas-USC game next Friday.