Game Blog: Hansbrough, Green lead Heels in rout of Georgia Tech
Feb 28, 2009
Final Score, UNC 104, GT 74- There has been talk thi sweek about th possibility that Tyler Hansbrough may not be on the All-ACC 1st team. hansbrough certainly had an All-ACC and All-American caliber game today. Unofficially, Hansbrough has 28 points and 10 rebounds for the game. It was also an All-ACC typer performance by Danny Green today with 23 points and 6 boards. Ty Lawson did not have a big scoring game with just4 points, but he did have 11 assists, and that is what this team needs from him to achieve their ultimate goal of a national championship. They have scorers. they need Lawson to run the show and get everyone involved.
5:23 left to play, UNC 86, GT 61- A scary moment for North Carolina as Wayne Ellington was knocked to the floor on a breakaway layup attempt by Tech's Iman Shumpert. Shumpert was assessed an intentional foul. Ellington stayed down for almost a minute, but was able to get back up an make both free throws. North Carolina definitely can not afford another injury, particularly this late in the season.
7:56 to play, UNC 80, GT 59- Georgia Tech has turned up the defensive pressure, and they have been successful in forcing a few carolina turnovers. however, they have only made a minimal dent in the Carolina lead. The Heels just run too well and have too muc hoffensive firepower for the Jackets. Lewis Clinch leads Tech with 20 points. hansbrough leads all scorers with 24, and danny green has 19 for UNC.
12:54 to play, UNC 70, GT 46- North Carolina has put their foot on Tech's throat here in the first 6 minutes of the 2nd half. The heels are still limiting tech to only one shot, and Carolina continues to score in transition. Defensively, Carolina has been getting into passing lanes, getting steals, and converting them into points. In short, they are looking more like the team that Roy Williams wants them to be. Tyler Hansbrough now has 22 points, and with his last 2 free throws, now holds the all-time record for free throws made in a college career.
17:42 left to play, UNC 58, GT 35- UNC has opened the 2nd half on a 12-2 run, keyed mostly by their defense.
Danny Green and Deon Thompson have both converted steals into transition baskets, and Georgia Tech has been unable to get anything out of their offensive sets to this point.
Halftime, UNC 46 , GT 33- No7:56 to play, UNC 80, GT 59-rth Carolina turned up the defensive intensity in the last 5 minutes of the first half, and they continue to do a good job on the boards against the Jackets. However the major story in the first half was Tyler Hansbrough. He leads all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-8 shotting from the field, and is 6-of-6 from the foul line. Ty Lawson finished the half with 2 points, going 0-of-2 from the field, but he does have 7 assists, which is 2 more than the ENTIRE TEAM had last week against Maryland. Roy Williams has got to be happy when he sees those numbers on the halftime stat sheet. lawson also committed the team's only personal foul of the 1st half.
2:11 TO PLAY, 1ST HALF, unc 43, gt 31- Carolina has extended their lead with some hot shooting . Bobby Frasor has provided a spark off of the bench defensively, and has chipped in with a couple of baskets on the offensive end, including a three-pointer. Georgia Tech seems to have lost some composure in the last few minutes, as they forced some quick shots. North Carolina has done a great job limiting Tech to only one shot. Interesting to note that only 2 minutes before halftime, Ty Lawson has only attempted one shot from the field.
6:43 left to play, 1st half, UNC 29, GT 25- Tyler Hansbrough is continuing to assert himself on the offensve end, as he now has 15 points, and will be looking to complete a 3-point play after this timeout. Gerogia Tech is hanging tough with the Heels, as they continue to work the ball down low to Alade Aminu and Gani Lawal.It may benefit Carolina to employ the "Hack-A-Shaq" technique on Lawal, as during his last trip to the line, he put up two of the ugliest free throws in the history of basketball.
11:03 left to play, 1st half, UNC 18, GT 18- The game is definitely being played at Carolina's pace right now. Both teams have cooled off from the field, but it is not due to the defense. Both teams are getting the shots they want, they just havent been falling the last few minutes.This is shaping up to be another game in which the Heels simply wear down and outscore the opposition.
14:50 left to play, 1st half, GT 14, UNC 13- Some hot shooting by both teams early. The good news for North Carolina fans is that Tyler Hansbrough has been a factor early. He has 11 of UNC's 13 points, including 5 from the foul line. however, the early defense has left something to be desired, as Georgia Tech has had no problem getting shots. Lewis Clinch has nailed two early three-pointers for the Jackets.
11:22 AM- We are a little over a half hour from tipoff on this rainy Saturday morning in Chapel Hill, and the crowd is slowly filing in to the Smith Center to watch the 4th-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels take on Georgia Tech. To look at the records of these teams, this one would appear to be a mismatch. North Carolina sits atop the ACC with a 10-3 record and are 24-3 overall, while the Yellow Jackets are bringing up the rear in the conference race at 10-18 overall and just 1-12 in conference play. However, Tech has been competetive in nearly all of their games this season, having lost 8 of their conference games by 8 points or less. North Carolina is looking to bounce back from their overtime loss last Saturday at Maryland, a game that the Tar Heels appeared to have in hand, leading at one point in the seond half by 16. Much has been made of the lack of touches Tyler Hansbrough has gotten in the post lately, as well as the Tar Heels' continued inconsistency on the defensive end of the floor. It will be interesting to see if the Heels try to remedy both of those problems today.
I'll be here throughout the game with constant updates. Enjoy the action!
