WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Mask or no mask, man-to-man or double-teamed, fronted or played from behind, Michigan State couldn’t stop Psycho T.
And if Michigan State, one of the most physical teams in the nation, couldn’t stop Tyler Hansbrough, then maybe only Georgetown’s 7-foot Roy Hibbert can.
The East Region last night took another step closer to a North Carolina-Georgetown showdown when the Tar Heels, playing before a sea of powder blue fans, simply had too much for Michigan State in an 81-67 win.
At least the East Region finals at the Meadowlands won’t be a North Carolina home court. Because the combination of Psycho T, who had a game-high 33 points and nine rebounds, and Psycho Tar Heels fans, that numbered 14,148, is almost unbeatable.
“I’ve never seen a guy with hands like that,” said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. “If he gets a fingernail on the ball, he keeps it. His hands and balance are superior to a lot of people. He’s always on balance.”
Hansbrough has the body of a tight end, the hands of a wide receiver, the footwork of a running back and the mentality of a linebacker. He just happens to play basketball instead of football.
Hansbrough suffered a broken nose in the regular-season finale against Duke and has been hampered by having to wear a protective mask. He’s gone through two of them, and received the most recent one before the Tar Heels’ first-round win over Eastern Kentucky.
Coach Roy Williams said Friday that Hansbrough would make a game-time decision yesterday as to whether to wear the mask. He started the game in his Plexiglas shield but when he returned with 12:33 left in the first half, the mask was gone and Hansbrough was almost unstoppable.
“It was like a little bee around your face,” Hansbrough said of the mask. “You try to slap it away and it wouldn’t go away.”
So Hansbrough put it away and scored 15 of his 19 first-half points without the mask as North Carolina took a 41-33 halftime lead. Hansbrough went 10-of-17 from the field and 13-of-17 from the line. The Tar Heels (30-6) will play the winner of USC-Texas on Friday.
“He stepped up when his team needed him most and made big plays,” said Michigan State forward Raymar Morgan.
The Spartans (23-12) were met outside their locker room after the game by Magic Johnson.
“Remember this feeling,” he told the Spartans. “I remember feeling like this my freshman year and the next year we rededicated ourselves and won a national championship.”
North Carolina might do that this year.
EAST REGION N. Car. 81 Mich. St. 67