Live Blog: Hansbrough's Best Game

11:12 p.m. Hansbrough's Best Game:

Given the quality of the opponent, the importance of the game, and the array of skills he showed, I think this was Tyler Hansbrough's best game in a Carolina uniform. He had to guard a very good post player in David Padgett, who he held to 6 points, and had 28 points and 13 rebounds of his own.

Everyone knocks him for being a good college player and having a game that won't translate to the pros, but anybody who saw him knock down the two jumpers from just inside the three-point line, the second of which off a pump-fake right over Padgett, can see that the kid has expanded his overall game.

The hustle was always there, but he showed everyone in the country that he has the diverse offensive skill set necessary to lead his team to a final four against a very game Louisville club.

Carolina wins 83-73

10:57 p.m. Lawson heard me:

Huge three for number five to push the lead to seven. Needless to say, the Fab 5 for Carolina will not be playing in this one...

Louisville is actually shooting a better percentage than Carolina in the second half (55%-44%) and the rebounds are even at 14 a piece.

Hansbrough is pretty much a one man show at this point, as Ellington and Green have given little in the second twenty minutes.

71-66 Carolina - 2:56 left.

10:53 p.m. Louisville keeping it close:

Scratch that on Ginyard, they must have charged the foul to Green - either way Ginyard has three, as does Hansbrough, and Thompson and Green have four each. Lawson has had no impact on the second half, a testament to how good a job Louisville has done in slowing things down.

68-64 Carolina.

10:44 p.m. Hansbrough doing his best to earn a trip to San Antonio:

If Carolina loses, it won't be Hansbrough's fault - the kid has 21 points on 10-15 shooting to go along with 10 rebounds and there's still almost eight minutes left in the game. Since Louisville tied it at 59, Psyho-T has scored four straight points, two on a layup and two more on an 18-ft jumper. He continues to suffocate Padgett when he's on D as well, holding the senior to 4 points on 1-4 shooting.

10:39 p.m. We have a game:

With Ginyard out, Carolina was forced to play a zone on D - I guess Roy didn't think Carolina could match up with Louisville's athleticism without the defensive stawart. Ginyard returned to the game, and Carolina returned to their man-to-man D, at the 10:21 mark - huge risk there with him having four fouls.

Thompson just picked up his fourth as well - the Heels better be careful here.

Louisville has all but killed the Heels' transition game and has done a much better job rebounding on both ends of the floor, that's why this is a two-point game right now. 61-59 Heels.

10:29 p.m. Ginyard picks up number four:

Carolina's best defender will have to sit for a while, as he just picked up his fourth foul going for a rebound. Louisville is already in the bonus with just under 13 minutes left in the game.

Hansbrough picked up Carolina's 14th offensive rebound in impressive fashion, throwing down a Danny Green miss over three Cardinal defenders.

Louisville has pulled within one as they're finding their range from beyond the three-point line - Jerry Smith has two threes for Louisville already.

10:21 p.m. Louisville opens half on 11-6 run:

Padgett and Pelacios average 17 ppg combined - tonight they have 2. However, the Cards have managed to slow Carolina down to start the half, even beating them at their own game once when Padgett hit Jerry Smith on a full-court outlet pass after a Carolina miss that led to a layup.

The Heels are in some foul trouble (they've committed four already this half), as both Deon Thompson and Marcus Ginyard have three fouls. Everyone knows Ginyard is the Heels' best defender, and Thompson had been playing well. They both will likely have to sit for a few minutes. Louisville doesn't have any foul issues - nobody on their squad has more than two.

50-43 Cards.

9:52 p.m. Heels up 44-32 at half:

Louisville has 14 field goals and 11 turnovers...not a good ratio.The Cards are shooting better than 50% from the field, but the Heels are knocking on the door of a 60% mark.

Ellington leads the Heels with 11 points, while Green has nine and Hansbrough eight. Green played for about a minute and a half with blood running down his cheek from a shot he took on the way to the basket for a layup - clever number 14 was wiping the bloog on the inside of his jersey, however, so the officials never spotted it.

Rick Pitino talked about how his team can play any style, including a run and gun tempo - clearly that's not going to work against the Heels. If Louisville has any chance to come back, it'll be because they slowed the game to a snails pace, ran isolation plays for their athletes on offense and got Padgett some touches inside the three-point line, which hasn't happened much so far.

For Carolina, Ginyard's defense has been great (5 rebounds, two steals in the half), and Lawson's speed had some of the media guys from Louisville in awe when he single-handedly broke their team's full court press by sprinting up the sidelines.

I didn't think Carolina was that much faster than Louisville - I was wrong...the Heels are impossible to keep up with, so if you're an opponent, you better slow them down.

Louisville full-court pressed Carolina 17 times and forced only one turnover. Wow...

9:41 p.m. Louisville clamping down on D

Terrence Williams epitomized that headline with a ridiculous block on a Wayne Ellington attempt at a transition layup. The Heels are outscoring Louisville 20-8 in the paint and Tyler Hansbrough already hjas 8 points in the first half when he had 2 all half against Washington State, but the Cards have done a nice job of weathering the storm.

Their switch to a man-to-man D has forced Carolina into some tough possessions, including a desperate three by Lawson as the shot clock was winding down.

It's 31-24 North Carolina at the under 4 timeout. Carolina is living off of their rebounding advantage right now.

Deon Thomspon is having a nice game with a pair of jumpers...he's 3-4 from the field, but he does have two fouls.

9:33 p.m. Heels are flying:

Ellington is crashing the offensive glass on Danny Green missed threes and beating Louisville down court when they're pressing full court. Carolina has already forced the Cards into a change on D, as they've moved from a zone to a man-to-man look.

Hansbrough is doing a great job of denying entry passes to Padgett in the low block, instead forcing him to accept the ball at the elbow or farther from the basket.

Carolina has made 6 of their last 7 shots - 27-17 Heels.

9:21 p.m. Both teams crashing the offensive boards:

Both teams are creating second chance point opporunities - Marcus Ginyard finally scored for Carolina after he tipped in a Danny Green miss that was to make it 14-9. On the other end Louisville rebounded a Padgett miss from in close and hit a three to close it to 14-12.

Green makes his first mark on the game with a three (too early to say I told you so?). We're at the under 12 and the Heels are up 17-12.

Carolina has owned the boards for the most part - they have a 9-4 advantage on the glass - but the Cards are converting on the few they've pulled down.

9:14 p.m. Fast pace for the first few minutes:

Looks like Louisville doesn't mind making it a track meet with the Heels. So far everyone that has tried to run with Carolina has left the building with a loss, but if anyone can do it from the East Region, it's Louisville. Hansbrough had four early points - Terrence Williams leads the Cards with 5.

8:40 p.m. Twenty-five minutes until tip:

We're all here in the bowels of the arena eagerly awaiting the Louisville/Carolina matchup, otherwise known as the Roy Williams/David Padgett saga. UCLA is crushing Xavier right now, so it looks like the Bruins are going to the final four for the third year in a row - that's impressive.

Carolina has looked impressive thus far in the tournament, but Louisville has been every bit as dominant, and against arguably better competition. The Cardinals drilled Oklahoma by 30 and then sent Bruce Pearl and the Vols packing after beating the two-seed by 19 points.

Louisville has the kind of depth and athleticism to stay with Carolina for 40 minutes, and presents matchup problems with guys like 6-6 Terrence Williams, 6-8 Earl Clark and 6-8 Juan Pelacios - all three can take their guys off the dribble or pull up and shoot an elbow jumper with equal proficiency. David Padgett has developed into the low-post scorer Roy Williams thought he would be when he recruited him to come to Kansas, and an even better passer and QB for the offense from the low block than he could have imagined.

Danny Green, in my opinion, is the key for Carolina. He's a great defender when he wants to be (and a great shot blocker for someone his size), and when he's hitting his shot he can force the defense to spread out and ease the pressure on Hansbrough in the middle. I suspect Ginyard will have to exert most of his energy on the defensive end, so Green will have to be the fourth option on offense behind Hansbrough, Lawson and Ellington.

Could this be the last game for  Psycho-T in a Carolina uniform? No way - I think he comes back regardless of whether the Heels win the title or not. Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson could be a different story - rumors are swirling that one or both may float their names in the draft pool and see what happens. If Lawson can get a spot in the lottery, he's gone...I don't know what it would take to get Ellington to leave Chapel Hill - certainly a first round guarantee, but I don't know if it would take more than that...