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		<description>RUWT? News for Michigan State vs. North Carolina 4/7/2009</description>
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		<pubDate>Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:41:11 GMT</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[Hansbrough, UNC roll to national title]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[DETROIT (AP) -- There was a team of destiny out there, all 
right. It's the North Carolina Tar Heels, and the final chapter 
of their story was about as heartwarming as a demolition derby.

Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and North Carolina won a national 
championship a season or more in the making, stomping out 
Michigan State's inspirational run Monday night with a 89-72 
blowout that wasn't even that close.

Hansbrough scored 18 points, Wayne Ellington had 19 and Ty 
Lawson led all scorers with 21 and also had a record seven 
steals by halftime - and now they and Danny Green can all head 
to the NBA feeling good about their decision to return to school
to bring Carolina's fifth championship back home.

All those upperclassmen, save Hansbrough, came back in part 
because their draft prospects didn't look so good. They also 
didn't want their college careers to end on last year's 
embarrassing loss to Kansas in the Final Four. That was a dud of
a game in which they trailed 40-12 in the first half and Billy 
Packer was telling CBS viewers it was over.

This time, North Carolina led 36-13 around the time "Dancing 
With The Stars" was starting on another network. At least nobody
knew how that one was going to end.

"We've been working so hard since last year when we fell short,"
said Ellington, named most outstanding player. "I wanted to 
redeem myself. We worked so hard."

Michigan State (31-7) simply never got any momentum. From the 
start, it was clear there was no way Carolina was losing control
of this one, no chance for the Spartans to serve up that 
definitive ray of sunshine and warm-and-fuzzy smile for a state 
that's been battered by the ailing economy.

The Tar Heels (34-4) were up 55-34 at halftime, breaking a 
42-year-old title-game record for biggest lead at the break and 
setting the mark for most points at the half.

"We handled injuries, handled some losses" this season, Williams
said. "The youngsters standing behind me are great, great young 
men. I'm the luckiest coach in America, I can tell you that."

This collection of NBA talent was too, too much from wire to 
wire, from the start of the tournament, to the very end.

Carolina won every game by double digits, something that hasn't 
happened since Duke did it in 2001.

Lots of basketball fans saw this coming, including America's No.
1 Hoopster-in-Chief.

Yes, President Barack Obama picked the Tar Heels to take it all 
in his much-publicized bracket.

Magic Johnson, Michigan State's Spartan-in-Chief, joined Larry 
Bird at center court to present the game ball, a tribute to the 
30-year anniversary of their historic matchup and Michigan 
State's first title.

From there, it was pretty much all "Showtime," all the time - 
but not for Michigan State. Heck, Magic didn't even stick around
for the end of the game. He was spotted walking up the tunnel 
with three minutes left.

Spartans coach Tom Izzo tried to call a timeout to stop the 
onslaught with 6:45 left in the first half. His team came out 
and promptly turned it over - one of 14 in the first half, 
compared to only 12 baskets.

Goran Suton led the Spartans with 17 points, and Kalin Lucas, 
the Big Ten player of the year, had 14 - most scored once the 
game was out of hand, which was very early in this one. Michigan
State pulled within 13 a couple times late in the second half, 
and the crowd of 72,922 - mostly pulling for the Spartans - 
tried to make some noise.

But for most of the game, cavernous Ford Field had the 
atmosphere of a Lions game, save the few thousand Tar Heel fans 
whose Carolina Blue team put in a much better blue-collar effort
than the team that was supposed to pride itself on that.

As for that 98-63 beatdown Carolina put on Michigan State in 
this same building back on December 3? No fluke. In fact, 
Detroit might want to give Ford Field a nice, long break. The 
Lions went 0-16 here last season, and there was no halt to the 
suffering on this night.

It was, almost literally, over before it began. Ellington had a 
double-pump scoop layup and a 3-pointer and Hansbrough spotted 
up and sank a 14-foot jumper - all in the first 4:25 to put 
Carolina ahead 17-7. It never got closer.

The Spartans, meanwhile, were having trouble simply getting the 
ball in after Tar Heel buckets, turning it over that way twice 
in the first six minutes, part of a depressing day that didn't 
do justice to the effort they put in to get here.

During pregame introductions, Williams walked over to shake 
hands with Izzo, who was distracted, drawing up a play on the 
greaseboard in the huddle. He jokingly showed the diagram to 
Williams - and you know what: It probably wouldn't have 
mattered.

Izzo conceded in the lead-up to the game that if both teams 
played their best, Michigan State would lose. He'll never find 
out if he was right because, while North Carolina was more than 
ready, the Spartans never showed up.

Williams, never afraid to cry at these things, joined Jim 
Calhoun, Billy Donovan and Mike Krzyzewski as the fourth active 
coach (13th overall) to win multiple titles.

This one came four years after his first championship - and for 
the first time, with a roster full of his own recruits.

Hansbrough was the only one who knew he wanted to come back from
the get-go. He simply loves college, and though his senior 
season wasn't quite as good as the year before, the ending was 
much better. Nobody on Michigan State could stop him - no shame 
there - and he had seven rebounds and two assists to go with the
18 points.

Lawson was often criticized for not looking to shoot enough and 
he sort of went back to his roots in this one. He finished only 
3-for-10 from the floor, but was a dominating presence, with six
assists, a record seven steals by halftime and a whopping 18 
trips to the free-throw line.

Oh, and don't forget Ed Davis. We'll be seeing the 6-10 freshman
in the pros with these other guys someday soon. He went 5-for-7 
for 11 points with eight rebounds in 14 minutes and may have 
proven all he needs to, as well.

Overall, North Carolina dominated every matchup on the floor in 
pretty much every way. The Tar Heels were a unanimous No. 1 in 
the preseason and became the first UNC team to start and finish 
at No. 1 since 1982.

Michael Jordan was the star of that team.

There may not be any Jordans on this team, but there were plenty
of Hansbroughs and Lawsons and Ellingtons - more than enough to 
finish off a project that seemed destined to end on a ladder in 
Detroit, with scissors and twine in their hands.]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[ncaab]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/93308-Hansbrough-UNC-roll-to-national-title</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/93308-Hansbrough-UNC-roll-to-national-title</guid>
				<pubDate>Tue, 07 Apr 2009 04:34:26 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
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				<title><![CDATA[Michigan State takes on UNC for national title]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By Eddie Pells
AP National Writer

(2) Michigan State (31-6) vs. (1) North Carolina (33-4), 9:21 p.m. EDT

DETROIT (AP) -- The bracket says North Carolina vs. Michigan 
State.

At times, though, the Tar Heels may feel like they're going up 
against something more than just another basketball team.

From the coach on down, the Spartans (31-6) know a win in the 
NCAA title game on a court 90 miles from their campus won't fix 
the state's economic freefall, won't put anybody back to work. 
But there will be 72,000 people in Ford Field, site of the Final
Four, come Monday night. Most will be rooting for Michigan 
State.

And winning, as they say, can be contagious.

"When you go through hard times, you pray for something to get 
you out," Spartans guard Travis Walton said. "I'm sure they 
didn't pray for Michigan State to get to the Final Four or the 
national championship game, but they probably have been praying 
to have things to take their mind off of it."

Michigan ranks 51st out of 50 states (and District of Columbia) 
in the latest unemployment figures. Detroit is the hub of an 
auto industry on life support, a civic symbol of an economic 
system that has come off the tracks.

That's the backdrop for a game in which Michigan State finds 
itself a 7-point underdog against a Carolina team that has 
"national champs" practically inked across its uniforms.

Remember, this is the team that some thought could go undefeated
this season when Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington 
and Danny Green all decided to return after a bad loss to Kansas
at last year's Final Four.

Undefeated was never on coach Roy Williams' list of goals. 
Winning a championship, though? Always.

"If you thought it was easy, you don't know what you're talking 
about," Williams said. "It's college basketball. There hasn't 
been an undefeated team since '76, and there have been some 
really, really good teams. I think this year there were eight or
10 teams or 12, I haven't studied it, that could be playing 
Monday night."

But it will be North Carolina (33-4), the preseason No. 1 and 
top seed in the South Regional, against Michigan State, a 
less-hyped and more overlooked No. 2 seed out of the Midwest.

Though Michigan State coach Tom Izzo won't sell his team short 
-- "you don't get this far on grit," he said -- he also knows 
the deal. This is a rematch of a game North Carolina won 98-63 
on Dec. 3 in the same building. Anyone who turned the channel, 
or turned the page, on that one gets a pass. Izzo certainly has.

Michigan State was exhausted (fourth game in seven nights), 
injured (Goran Suton was out and Delvon Roe was hurting) and not
playing near its current level back then, though the coach 
figures if the Spartans had been in better shape, they still 
would have lost by 20.

"If we play good and they play good, we're losing. That's the 
way I look at it," Izzo said. "I mean, I don't look at that in 
the negative. They are the best team in the country and have 
earned that ranking probably over the last year and a half."

And, as both coaches acknowledge, the Spartans have a knack for 
taking opponents out of their 'A' game. See Michigan State's 
82-73 win over Connecticut on Saturday.

"I mean, they're not exactly Charlie's Donut Team," Williams 
said.

Williams figures if North Carolina plays poorly in the rematch, 
it won't be because of the crowd.

This is a team that loves playing in hostile environments and 
succeeds at it, too.

The Tar Heels have gone 67-14 away from home in the four years 
since Hansbrough and the seniors arrived in 2005, the season 
after Carolina's last championship. Hansbrough has never lost to
Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He's 5-2 in other road games in 
the state of North Carolina, 3-0 in Maui, 6-0 in Florida and, 
yes, 1-0 at Ford Field.

"I've tried to forget that whole week," Izzo said. "In fact, if 
you ask me, 2008 never happened. I'm trying to move ahead to 
2009."

Led by Kalin Lucas, the Big Ten player of the year, Walton, the 
Big Ten defensive player of the year, and steadily improving 
Raymar Morgan (18 points, nine rebounds in the win over 
Connecticut on Saturday), the Spartans are trying to close out 
2009 with a flourish.

The game comes 30 years after Magic Johnson led MSU to its first
championship in that historic meeting against Indiana State and 
Larry Bird. Like North Carolina, Michigan State is also going 
for its second title of the 2000s.

Mateen Cleaves led the 2000 title team. Though Izzo has been 
back to the Final Four three times since -- for a total of five 
in 11 years -- the Spartans haven't won another championship.

Getting this group a title is the real mission that concerns the
coach.

"I mean, the state, this city, is very important to me," he 
said. "But the cause right now is for the Michigan State players
to win a championship, and hopefully the repercussions from that
will help a lot of people. It's a feel-good for a lot of 
people."

Williams, meanwhile, said he hasn't had time to discuss the 
country's economic situation since the Tar Heels beat Villanova 
83-69 late Saturday night. It's simply not part of the scouting 
report.

"I do realize they have a cause. Well, we also have a cause, 
too," he said. "We want to win a national championship, period, 
the end. And if you would tell me that if Michigan State wins, 
it's gonna satisfy the nation's economy, then I'd say, 'Hell, 
let's stay poor for a little while longer.'"]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[ncaab]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/93201-Michigan-State-takes-on-UNC-for-national-title</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/ncaab/news/93201-Michigan-State-takes-on-UNC-for-national-title</guid>
				<pubDate>Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:48:49 GMT</pubDate>
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