IrishIllustrated.com - Heels correct problems to rout Georgia Tech

February 28, 2009

Evan Markfield
TarHeelIllustrated.com

CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina might as well have been working off a checklist when it came to correcting the things they did wrong in the previous week's loss to Maryland.

Sharing the ball?

Check.

Playing defense?

Check.

Getting Tyler Hansbrough to the line?

Check.

It certainly didn't hurt to be up against Georgia Tech, the team last in the ACC standings, but either way, the fourth-ranked Tar Heels got back on track with a 104-74 win at the Smith Center.

"We feel good," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "I thought for a huge portion of the game, we played pretty well."

Hansbrough led the Tar Heels (25-3, 11-3 in the ACC) with 28 points and 10 rebounds, and he asserted himself early.

The big man scored 11 of Carolina's first 13 points and was perfect on eight free-throw attempts in the game.

In the second half, Hansbrough made his 907th career free throw to set the all-time NCAA record.

"This is an NCAA record, so it's pretty special," Hansbrough said. "I always like to (break records) at home because they're a little nicer to me."

The fact that Hansbrough got the ball early and often was a testament to the type of passing that was absent when the Tar Heels lost to the Terps at College Park.

In that game, UNC had just five assists, a mark they surpassed in six minutes of play against the Yellow Jackets (10-17, 1-13).

In the end, Carolina racked up 26 assists on its 37 field goals, led by a career-high-tying 11 from Ty Lawson.

Coming off a game in which he took 20 shots, Lawson was far more into distribution than shooting in this one, leading Williams to say it was probably the best performance he had ever seen by a point guard who didn't score a field goal.

"I wasn't pulling back on offense," Lawson said. "The opportunities weren't there. I just took care of the ball and ran the team."

Lawson's teammates certainly took advantage of their chances with the ball. Danny Green had 23 points, the most he has scored in an ACC game, while Deon Thompson and Wayne Ellington had 10 apiece.

While the Tar Heels shot better than 60 percent in the second half, they were probably more proud of their defense.

Even though Tech shot 44.9 percent, Carolina looked far more intense at the defensive end than it had at Maryland.

The players probably had Williams - and the week off between games - to thank for that because the extra time allowed for what the coach called "complete practices."

Hansbrough said the sessions were "probably in the top three hardest practices of all time since I've been here."

"It was defensive drill after defensive drill, and then some running," Hansbrough said.

The Tar Heels obviously learned their lesson.

And by knocking off the Maryland maladies one by one, they got some confidence back heading into the final two games of the regular season.

"We were trying to get that sour taste out of our mouth," Hansbrough said. "We all had the Maryland game on our minds."

FEATURED PRODUCT