Hansbrough, North Carolina oust Louisville and advance to Final Four

Tyler Hansbrough led North Carolina with 28 points and 13 rebounds to help the Tar Heels into the Final Four by defeating third-seeded Louisville 83-73 in the East Regional Final. Hansbrough was named regional MVP, and he was 12-of-17 from the floor. North Carolina has won all four games in the tournament by double digits, and went 8-for-8 from the free throw line in the final minute to hold off the Cardinals.

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Jerry Smith scored 17 points for Louisville and Jerry Smith finished with 14. Louisville shot well from the field, finishing the game shooting 53 percent. Louisville played well enough to win on any other night, but just not well enough to beat North Carolina. Louisville was good. North Carolina was just better. Edgar Sosa and Earl Clark each had 12 points for Louisville. David Padgett, Andre McGee and Derrick Caracter were all held to single digits in scoring (Padgett-6, McGee-4, Caracter-2). Louisville came to within four, with the score 68-64 in favor of the Tar Heels, but the Cardinals would get no closer . Unlike last year, UNC made the key plays and baskets to pull out the victory, using a 7-1 run to go up 75-66 with 90 seconds left to play.

Louisville was the last remaining Big East team left in the tournament. North Carolina advances to the Final Four in San Antonio to face fellow one-seed Kansas for the right to play in the National Championship game.

by Frank Minniti
BigEast-fans.com Director of Content

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