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	<channel>		<title>RUWT? News</title>
		<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com</link>
		<description>RUWT? News for Oklahoma vs. North Carolina 3/29/2009</description>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 05:08:33 GMT</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[North Carolina leaves Oklahoma behind in South final]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[MEMPHIS (AP) -- Tyler Hansbrough deferred to his teammates - 
just as he'd hinted he might.

This was no one-on-one matchup down low. Instead, North Carolina
rolled past Blake Griffin and Oklahoma with a total team effort.

Ty Lawson scored 19 points and top-seeded North Carolina 
overcame a quiet game from Hansbrough to beat the Sooners, 
72-60, on Sunday in the South Regional final.

North Carolina (32-4) advanced to the Final Four for the second 
straight year and will play Villanova in the national 
semifinals.

"This is what we work for," the Tar Heels' Wayne Ellington said.
"We put so much work in and sweat in the offseason to get not to
this point, but past this point. It means a lot to be able to 
get to this point and have an opportunity to win the whole 
thing."

Danny Green scored 18 points for the Tar Heels and Deon Thompson
added 10. Hansbrough was in foul trouble early and finished with
only eight points, but he'd said the previous day he wasn't 
going to be caught up in a head-to-head battle with Griffin.

Griffin scored 23 points with 16 rebounds for second-seeded 
Oklahoma, but the Sooners (30-6) went 2-for-19 from 3-point 
range.

"One thing about Blake is I think he's tough down low to box 
out," Hansbrough said. "I think one thing about him is he's one 
of the best rebounders I've played against and so that was very 
tough. I think he gets a lot of stuff off offensive rebounds and
his rebounding ability was something I think I'm not really used
to seeing."

Still, it was Hansbrough who was standing on the court after the
game, posing for pictures while the Tar Heels cut down the nets.
That's a routine this program has down pat.

North Carolina reached a record 18th Final Four. UCLA has been 
to 18, but the Bruins' 1980 appearance was later vacated by the 
NCAA because of rules violations.

This will be the Tar Heels' second Final Four in a row and ninth
in 19 seasons - and it will be played at Detroit's Ford Field, 
where they routed Michigan State, 98-63, in December. Earlier 
Sunday, the Spartans also reached the Final Four.

North Carolina lost in the semifinals last season.

"This team has dealt with a great deal of adversity and a great 
deal of expectations from other people and they have us going to
Detroit," coach Roy Williams said.

North Carolina led 61-40 before Oklahoma scored nine straight 
points, including its first 3-pointer after 15 misses to start 
the game. Lawson made a couple free throws with 4:12 to play to 
halt that run.

"We fully believed we were going to win this basketball game 
today, but this is how life is sometimes. It doesn't happen the 
way you want it," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. "I thought the
game would've been a lot more interesting if we could've made 
some shots, but I thought we had some really good looks."

Hansbrough was The Associated Press player of the year in 2008, 
and Griffin has made an impressive bid for this year's honor. It
wasn't much of a contest on the stat sheet, but the Tar Heels 
set the tone by swarming Griffin early with double teams. He 
didn't score before making two free throws with 8:29 remaining 
in the first half.

"That's something we faced as a team all year," Griffin said. 
"Teams might not have as many guys like that."

Both teams appeared tight at the start, but the Tar Heels 
loosened up quickly. Lawson pulled up for a jumper from the 
free-throw line that gave North Carolina a 13-2 lead and forced 
Oklahoma to take a timeout less than six minutes in.

At first, Griffin was content to pass out of the double teams, 
and Oklahoma accomplished one of its goals by controlling the 
pace. North Carolina didn't have many early fast breaks and even
tossed up several uncharacteristic air balls.

At the other end, however, the Sooners were stagnant. After a 
3-pointer by Green put the Tar Heels ahead 28-16, the shot clock
ran out on Oklahoma when Griffin was double teamed and the 
Sooners didn't react quickly enough.

With his teammates shooting poorly, Griffin became more 
aggressive, scoring Oklahoma's last seven points of the half, 
but the Sooners still trailed 32-23 at intermission - their 
lowest - scoring half of the season. Oklahoma scored all its 
first-half points from the paint or the foul line.

Green scored 14 points in the first half. Hansbrough picked up 
two fouls in the first seven minutes and played only nine in the
half.

North Carolina made its first six shots of the second half, and 
the Tar Heels were able to maintain a comfortable lead even as 
Griffin threw down a powerful, one-handed alley-oop dunk at the 
other end.

North Carolina eventually went ahead 53-38 on a 3-pointer by 
Lawson.

"It's not hard to see how talented they are throughout the year.
I've always been impressed with them," said Taylor Griffin, who 
scored four points for the Sooners. "They're as good as 
advertised, I think."

On Saturday, Williams uttered perhaps the week's most prescient 
quote:

"If you say, Tyler, you're going to have eight points and seven 
rebounds but North Carolina is going to win, he's going to be 
the happiest guy in town."

Hansbrough had eight points and six rebounds, and he and his 
teammates were happy and headed back to the Final Four.

"It's a different team," Green said. "It's a new year, a new 
day. It's a new game, and we know what our goals are."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[ncaab]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92737-North-Carolina-leaves-Oklahoma-behind-in-South-final</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92737-North-Carolina-leaves-Oklahoma-behind-in-South-final</guid>
				<pubDate>Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:14:05 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Hansbrough, Griffin square off with Final Four on the line]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[(2) Oklahoma (30-5) vs. (1) North Carolina (31-4) South Region, 5:05 p.m. EDT

MEMPHIS, Tennessee (AP) -- One big man was last year's National 
Player of the Year. The other appears poised to take his place.

Now, Tyler Hansbrough and Blake Griffin will go head-to-head 
with a lot more at stake than any individual honor.

Hansbrough has led top-seeded North Carolina to within a victory
of a second straight Final Four. But to get there the Tar Heels 
will have to go through Griffin and Oklahoma on Sunday in a 
clash of low post stars.

"You have everything that's right about college basketball with 
these two kids," Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said. "Tyler staying 
in school for four years and breaking every record at North 
Carolina and in the ACC. And then Blake, you know, turning down 
the money last year and coming back. Both of them have been 
great ambassadors for college basketball."

Hansbrough was The Associated Press Player of the Year in 2008, 
and when he and three key teammates decided to stay in college 
another year, the Tar Heels became immediate favorites to win 
this season's national title. Along the way, some other 
contenders joined them - including Griffin and his Sooners, 
seeded No. 2 in the South Regional.

Griffin, a 6-foot-10 sophomore, is averaging 22.7 points a game 
and 14.4 rebounds after passing on last year's NBA draft. In 
Friday night's win over Syracuse, he was Boomer Sooner 
personified, plowing over Jonny Flynn en route to one layup, 
then rising so high for a dunk he hit his head on the bottom of 
the backboard.

"He's really explosive. You know, that's pretty obvious," 
Hansbrough said. "You watch some of his games and his highlights
- he's pretty explosive, and he's a good offensive rebounder."

The 6-foot-9 Hansbrough can score inside as well, and he's 
improved his outside shooting. The result: He's now the Atlantic
Coast Conference's career leader in scoring.

Hansbrough said he doesn't watch much college basketball when 
his team isn't playing, so he hasn't seen Griffin play much. 
Griffin, on the other hand, has seen plenty of Hansbrough, who 
has been hard to miss while playing four years at one of college
basketball's most prominent programs.

"I've seen him play a lot since his freshman year," Griffin 
said. "I've seen him play a lot of games every season."

Both players sought to downplay their personal matchup, and with
good reason. Their supporting casts are impressive. Tony Crocker
scored 28 points against Syracuse, and guard Willie Warren can 
score in streaks.

As for the Tar Heels, Hansbrough might not even be their best 
player. Ty Lawson scored 19 points with nine assists in Friday 
night's win over Gonzaga, and backcourt mate Wayne Ellington has
scored 67 in the team's three NCAA tournament wins.

Lawson has been bothered by a toe injury this month, but it 
didn't seem to slow him against Gonzaga.

"My toe is feeling good," Lawson said Saturday. "It didn't 
really swell up last night. It's not much pain in it. It's 
getting better."

Lawson, Ellington and Danny Green all decided to stay at North 
Carolina along with Hansbrough, setting aside the NBA for the 
time being. The Tar Heels (31-4) are now on the verge of a 
record 18th Final Four. UCLA has been to 18, but the Bruins' 
1980 appearance was later vacated by the NCAA because of rules 
violations.

"Last year in late May, early June, whenever it was that we were
anointed," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "I said at 
that time no team in college basketball is going to go 
undefeated anymore. It's just not going to happen. ... I 
couldn't be any happier -- could not be one degree happier with 
the way our kids have tried to do things for our team and not be
concerned about themselves."

Oklahoma (30-5) is trying for its first Final Four appearance 
since 2002. Capel made it clear the Sooners would not try to run
with the speedy Tar Heels for 40 minutes.

"They're going to score," Capel said. "The thing we have to do 
is, as best we can, is try to control tempo. We can't play at 
their pace. No one can."

There's plenty of historic significance to this matchup. Capel 
grew up as a North Carolina fan but ended up playing for Duke. 
His buzzer-beating shot from about 35 feet tied a 1995 matchup 
between the Tar Heels and Blue Devils, but Duke lost in double 
overtime.

North Carolina and Oklahoma are playing for the first time since
1990, when the Tar Heels upset top-seeded Oklahoma in the second
round of the NCAA tournament on a last-second bank shot by Rick 
Fox.

That was an early exit for an Oklahoma team that wanted to chase
a national title. This year's Tar Heels and Sooners have similar
goals, but one slip and it will all be over. North Carolina is 
in the regional finals for the third straight year. The Tar 
Heels lost in 2007 and advanced to the Final Four last season.

"When you lose at this stage, what somebody does is they reach 
in and they jerk your heart out and they shake it right in front
of your face. It can't get any worse," Williams said. "When your
team is cutting down that net and going to the Final Four, it 
can't get any better."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[ncaab]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92659-Hansbrough-Griffin-square-off-with-Final-Four-on-the-line</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/92659-Hansbrough-Griffin-square-off-with-Final-Four-on-the-line</guid>
				<pubDate>Sat, 28 Mar 2009 22:59:36 GMT</pubDate>
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