WRAL Sports Fan

WRALSportsFan

Green Sparks Heels To Victory

By Greg Barnes, InsideCarolina.com

Mar 27, 2008

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Danny Green had read the press clippings. He knew that while his teammates were posting record numbers in Raleigh last weekend, his own stat line suffered. But he got the last laugh on Thursday, igniting a first-half run that propelled North Carolina into the Elite Eight with a 68-47 victory over Washington State.

With the Tar Heels trailing 10-8 seven minutes into their record 22nd Sweet Sixteen appearance, Green swatted the ball out of Derrick Low’s hands following a defensive rebound and quickly scored on a layup, and woke up the predominantly Carolina blue crowd and his teammates in the process.

The North Babylon, N.Y. product initiated a 16-5 UNC spurt with 10 points of his own that changed the game’s tempo in North Carolina’s favor.

“We felt Danny Green gave us a huge lift in the first half shooting the ball in the basket, and he hasn't been shooting the ball that well recently to say the least…,” head coach Roy Williams said after his team won its school-record 35th game of the season. “But he came in the first half and gave us a big lift when we were having trouble scoring against a very good defense.”

Green scored 15 points in all on 6-of-10 shooting (3-of-5 from long range), while contributing five rebounds and three steals. Tyler Hansbrough posted game-highs with 18 points and nine rebounds, and Ty Lawson (12 points) and Wayne Ellington (13 points, eight rebounds) rounded out the attack for the Tar Heels. North Carolina shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) on the night.

“Just making one basket really gets me going,” said Green, who shot 28.6 percent (4-of-14) in Raleigh. “One shot gives me confidence to make the next one. Playing good defense [and] doing the little things helps to get the butterflies out. Once I got going, things started working my way.”

The 21-point margin of victory is North Carolina’s largest in a regional semifinal since beating Eastern Michigan by 26 on Mar. 22, 1991 at the Meadowlands.

Washington State entered their first-ever Sweet Sixteen showing tabbed as the defensive force that could slow down the Tar Heel transition machine, as well as possibly being able to contain Hansbrough. Tony Bennett’s squad succeeded in accomplishing the latter – at least for a half – as Hansbrough’s only two points during the opening 20 minutes came on a pair of late free throws, marking only the second time this season that he did not connect on a field goal in the first half (at FSU).

But it’s never a good sign when your team manages that feat, and still trails at the break, 35-21. Hansbrough scored North Carolina’s first eight points of the second half, and the Tar Heels would eventually build a 26-point lead before the night was through.

Despite Washington State’s defensive accolades, North Carolina was the aggressor on that end of the floor in Charlotte, holding the Cougars to 31.6 percent (18-of-57) and forcing 10 turnovers to just nine assists. Leading scorers Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver combined for only 24 points connecting on 9-for-29 shooting, while Aron Baynes added 14 in the post.

Washington State’s 47 points were the fewest points allowed by North Carolina in a NCAA Tournament game since Oklahoma A&M defeated the Tar Heels, 43-40, in the 1946 NCAA championship game.

”It was a huge emphasis tore us to keep them off the backboards and not let them get second-shot opportunities, and we wanted to do a better job on our offensive boards than we did,” Williams said after his squad outrebounded the Cougars, 46-32. “Defensively we wanted to really try to challenge everything, but you look at it and they shoot 29% in the second half, and we shoot 38% percent... But I was pleased with our defense tonight.”

The Tar Heels will now play in their second consecutive NCAA Regional final on Saturday night, facing the winner of Thursday’s nightcap between No.3 seed Louisville and No.2 seed Tennessee.

Washington State is content with walking the ball up the court after defensive rebounds, while North Carolina wants to score transition points off made baskets. But both styles have been proven to work this season.

While the offensive statistics are on complete opposite ends of the spectrum, it should be noted that Washington State ranks 14th nationally in kenpom.com's adjusted offensive efficiency rankings (118 points per 100 possessions). The Tar Heels hold down the No. 2 spot with 126.6 points per 100 possessions.

The Cougars cough up the ball only 10.2 times per contest (4th nationally), enabling them to post an impressive 1.4 assist-to-turnover ratio (8th nationally).

“They don't hurt themselves,” Williams said. “They don't take bad shots, they don't turn it over a lot. They wait until they get the absolute shot they want on the offensive end.”

And in an odd twist, fans and media members tend to equate a slower pace with a stingier defense, but in comparing these two programs, those beliefs are incorrect.

Washington State took advantage of the nation’s 192nd –best out-of-conference schedule (according to kenpom.com) to post some staggering field goal percentage defense numbers, but when looking purely at conference play, North Carolina’s 42.4 percentage in the ACC is significantly better than the Cougars’ 45.5 percentage in the Pac-10.

“We've played against a lot of half-court teams, and I think we're used to having teams slow us down and turn it into a half-court game,” Wayne Ellington said. “I think we have to do our job on defense and attack the backboards, and you know, get the ball out quick and we'll be able to play our style of game all game long.”

And with that last sentence by UNC’s smooth shooting sophomore guard, we have arrived at what may be the most crucial statistic to pay attention to on Thursday night. Bennett realizes that his team cannot run with the boys in Carolina blue – to do so would be the equivalent of roundball suicide.

So while the Cougars attack the defensive glass with vigor and an onslaught of bodies, they don’t reciprocate on the other end of the court. Washington State is outside the top-150 in rebounding margin for a reason – they would rather stop an opponent’s transition game than hit the offensive boards.

“I think you have to get back if you're going to have a chance,” Bennett said bluntly.

Washington State has faced two of the nation’s top rebounding teams five times this season in UCLA (8.7 rebounding margin) and Stanford (8.4) – and lost all five games. But the Cougars haven’t seen anything like they will encounter on Thursday night, as the Tar Heels are the top rebounding team in the country with an 11.6 margin.

It’s also beneficial for North Carolina that the players were forced to adjust their tempo when Ty Lawson went down with an ankle injury over six weeks ago. Not only did that loss toughen the Tar Heels mentally, but they learned to win in scrappy, grind-it-out ball games, such as the 75-74 victory at Virginia and the 68-66 win over Virginia Tech in the ACC Tournament.

“I like winning in the 80s and 90s, but to be the team and reach the dreams we have and be the team we want to be, you've got to be able to win at someone else's tempo,” Williams said. “You can't be in your comfort zone all the time.”

With an Elite Eight berth on the line for Saturday, whichever team can impose its style of play on their opponent will have the upper hand. After that, it just comes down to efficient execution – an area where both programs have thrived this season.