Hansbrough, Tar Heels Unmask the Spartans

UNC 81, Michigan State 67

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., March 17 -- For nearly 32 minutes Saturday, Drew Neitzel and his Michigan State teammates appeared capable of accomplishing a nearly impossible task: beating top-seeded North Carolina in an arena filled with baby blue-clad fans.

Thanks to eight straight points by Neitzel, the Spartans had a one-point lead with just over eight minutes left in their second-round game in the East Region of the NCAA tournament. But the relentless athleticism of the Tar Heels eventually wore down the resolve of Michigan State, and North Carolina prevailed, 81-67, at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

North Carolina (30-6) advanced to the round of 16 for an NCAA-record 21st time and will play the winner of Sunday's Southern California-Texas game in an region semifinal Friday in East Rutherford, N.J.

"I think our kids showed a tremendous amount of toughness," North Carolina Coach Roy Williams said. Against Michigan State, "you've got to be tough, physically aggressive, and mentally tough. I think once they made their run early in second half, I thought [we played] our best defense of the year."

Neitzel led the ninth-seeded Spartans (23-12) with 26 points on 9-of-27 shooting. North Carolina freshman guard Ty Lawson scored 20 points and had eight assists, and senior forward Reyshawn Terry -- who was suffering from a migraine and didn't participate in the game-day shoot-around -- had 14 points, including 10 in the final five minutes as North Carolina pulled away.

But the Tar Heel who gave the Spartans the most problems was sophomore forward Tyler Hansbrough, who scored a season-high 33 points, 29 of which came after he removed his distinctive face mask.

With 13 minutes 30 seconds left in the first half and his team holding a five-point lead, Williams removed all of his starters from the game. When Hansbrough returned to the floor a minute later, the clear plastic mask he had been wearing to protect his broken nose was gone.

Hansbrough's mask had drawn considerable attention over the past two weeks, and even inspired "Fear the Mask" T-shirts, which were being sold outside the arena. He finally decided to take it off because it was making him sweat. Hansbrough compared wearing the mask with an annoying bee that was circling his face, sheepishly adding, "I'm not sure that's the best analogy."

Midway through the second half, Neitzel made two three-pointers among his eight straight points to give Michigan State a 59-58 lead with 8:08 to play. But from that point on, the Spartans managed just one more field goal, a layup by forward Marquise Gray (11 points). The Spartans battled fatigue and foul trouble (Gray and guard Travis Walton fouled out), as well as the very athletic Tar Heels.

"We just got worn down a little bit," said Neitzel, whose shoulders seemed to sag just a little after he attempted his 17th three-pointer late in the game. "I'm proud of this group of guys. We left everything we had on the court. . . . Anytime you play a team like that -- so athletic -- it takes a lot out of you, especially with the foul trouble and lack of depth. It took a toll on us the last five or six minutes of the game."