CHARLOTTE -- Tyler Hansbrough's final basket against Louisville is the only play you need to see if you missed North Carolina's Elite Eight win over Louisville. He pumped once and watched Earl Clark fly.Then Hansbrough settled and fired a jumper as he fell to the ground with David Padgett in pursuit. By the time his backside hit the ground, the ball was ripping the net.
That is a how a player of the year gets it done when a Final Four trip is on the line.
"The reason he made that shot is because he's made it hundreds of times already," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "It's like that television commercial when the young man shoots extra shots before every practice, every off day."
All night long, it was Hansbrough, who finished with 28 points and 13 rebounds in the Heels' 83-73 win, getting the best of a stable of Louisville thoroughbreds down low. And most importantly, when the Cardinals stormed back from a 12-point second-half deficit, it was Psycho T saving the Heels from a second consecutive Elite Eight collapse.
"(Georgetown) was in the back of, I'd say, a lot of our minds," Hansbrough said. "There was that point when they went on that run, and I think the difference this year is that we handled that run better and stayed poised."
When Louisville's Edgar Sosa trimmed the lead to four with 14:18 remaining, Hansbrough came to the rescue, slamming home Danny Green's missed shot. When Louisville tied the game at 59-59 -- the closest the closest the Cardinals were since leading 5-4 in the opening minutes -- Hansbrough put together back-to-back baskets to restore a four-point lead.
Padgett said he had never before faced an opponent who plays as hard as Hansbrough. And Hansbrough's undying intensity led Louisville coach Rick Pitino to bring up the names of stars like Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley.
"Certainly, he doesn't have all of those skills of those superstars," Pitino said. "But, just like shooting, rebounding, playing defense and passing are skills, working hard is an acquired skill."
Hansbrough's poise at crunch time exemplifies how cool these Heels are under pressure. When the game was tied with 10:21 remaining, it was the first real challenge North Carolina had seen in the entire tournament.
