UNC 81, MSU 67
UNC won a scrappy game on the back of Tyler Hansbrough's season high 33 points and Ty Lawson's 20 points and 8 assists. Both had all-star calibur games, which made up for anemic offensive performances by the rest of the team. There is one glaring exception. Reyshawn Terry was 0-5 from three point range until the 5 minute mark when he caught fire. He scored 10 points in the final 4 minutes of the game. According to Dick Enberg, Terry has been suffering from flu-like symptoms before the game, which might explain his poor play early on.
Drew Neitzel kept MSU close, scoring 26 points including 6-17 from beyond the arc. Fortunately, he and the rest of MSU stopped making shots in the final minutes.
Despite MSU's rebounding prowess, we out-rebounded them 40-29. Hansbrough led the team with 9 rebounds.
I was very happy with our toughness throughout the game. We had a couple of soft periods, but overall we played with a lot of intensity.
Next up we play the winner of tomorrow's USC/Texas game. Bring 'um on!
Second half notes:1:11. 77-67. This is all but over now! Hansbrough at the line.
1:26. 77-67. MSU is starting to foul on every UNC possession. Lawson made both.
1:28. 75-65. Neitzel lowers his shoulder and got a foul called against Ginyard. It should have been a charge.
1:34. 75-65. Wright with a rejection. Hansbrough fouled. Walton fouled out.
1:43. 74-65. Terry drives and was fouled. He made one.
1:51. 73-65. Neitzel air balls a 3 pointer. Good defense by Ginyard!
2:21. 73-65. Terry drilled a 3 pointer!!
2:58. 70-63. Huge two pointer by Terry!
4:03. 68-61. Terry fouled and made one. Double bonus now for UNC. We shoot 2 from here on out.
4:23. 67-61. Extremely questionable hooking foul against Wright. He has 4 fouls and goes to the bench.
4:49. 67-61. LAWSON WITH A HUGE 3 POINTER!!! He has 18 points and no turnovers. Credit Marcus Ginyard for getting a steal off Neitzel.
6:00. 62-59. Hansbrough scores again on a great Lawson feed. He has 31 points!
7:25. 58-59. Terry missed another 3. He's 0-5 from deep.
8:07. 58-59. Neitzel is killing us like Hansbrough is killing MSU.
8:25. 58-57. This game is going to come down to who can make their free throws. UNC is already in the bonus and MSU will be in the bonus on the next foul.
8:46. 54-57. Neitzel with another f**kin 3 pointer (his 6th!). We have to stop him!!
9:46. 54-54. Hansbrough with a dunk for his 24th and 25th point! We need some other players to step up offensively other than Hansbrough and Lawson.
10:41. 50-51. Dick Enberg mentioned that Reyshawn Terry has been ill and not feeling well today. That would explain his play which has been less than stellar.
11:33. 50-51. This game is waaay too close for comfort.
12:22. 50-49. Hansbrough scores (again) and is fouled (again). 4th foul on Walton.
13:12. 47-46. We've finally picked up our defensive intensity.
13:45. 46-46. MSU is really starting to collect fouls. They have 5 team fouls so far. 3 Spartans with 3 fouls.
15:00. 43-44. MSU takes their first lead since the opening minutes. We've lost our intensity.
16:15. 43-42. And there goes the 8 point lead.
19:32. 41-25. Wright is having an off night.
