Final
Hansbrough helps Williams claim 500th career win
Dec 10, 2006 - 2:35 AM CHAPEL HILL, North Carolina (Ticker) -- Tyler Hansbrough made sure his coach did not need to sweat out a milestone.Hansbrough scored 24 points and coach Roy Williams became the fastest coach to reach 500 career wins as third-ranked North Carolina rolled to a 94-69 victory over High Point.
In his fourth year coaching his alma mater and 19th season overall, Williams improved to 500-125. The former Kansas coach has also reached the Final Four three times, winning his first title with the Tar Heels in 2005.
"I have been extremely lucky and that has been the biggest thing," Williams said. "I have been extremely lucky to have the kind of players that I have had and the character that they have had is extremely important to me. And I have a wife who has been extremely important and supportive in her way too."
Former UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian reached the milestone in his 20th season.
"It's a big-time honor," sophomore guard Marcus Ginyard said. "It's a great milestone for coach and everybody is happy for (him) and happy they could be a part of it. It's such a big-time thing for coach Williams."
"Roy's accomplishment is nothing short of remarkable," High Point coach Bart Lundy said. "Here and Kansas. He's got talent, but it's something special when you are blending that talent and getting them to play night in night out as hard as they're playing. What he does is so sound. He's going to win a whole bunch more."
After the game, a video that featured a number of Williams' former players congratulating him was played on the scoreboard. It proved to be a very emotional moment for the coach.
"It was hard to watch the video," Williams said. "I made a point to never say one word to the team about 500 wins. I was surprised. I didn't know anything about the video. That was special to have Paul Pierce, Nick Collison, Rashad McCants, Marvin Williams and those guys up there on the video. That is a video I will have for a long time."
Guiding a young team that starts three freshmen and a sophomore, Williams had very little to worry about as North Carolina was on the ball from the start. It shot 66 percent (19-of-29) in the first half to forge a 45-28 lead at the break and refused to let up thereafter.
Hansbrough led the superb shooting effort, going 9-of-11 and grabbing five rebounds. It was good rebound game for the sophomore, who managed just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting in the 75-63 victory over Kentucky last Saturday.
"I was pleased that Tyler goes 9-for-11 because everybody seemed to worry," Williams said. "I don't worry about Tyler, I can tell you. That is the least thing I am going to have to worry about. I was pleased that we were able to get the ball to him."
Brandan Wright, Reyshawn Terry and Ty Lawson scored 11 points apiece for the Tar Heels (7-1), who finished 64 percent (35-of-55) from the field en route to scoring 90 or more points for the fifth time this season.
Terry added eight rebounds and freshman Wayne Ellington added seven for North Carolina, which held a 43-25 advantage on the boards.
"They were physically overmatched," Lundy said. "You can tell that by the rebound numbers. We just couldn't get consecutive stops and defensive rebounds, and had we been able to we maybe could have made this a little better game."
Ginyard added 10 points off the bench for North Carolina, which was playing High Point for the first time in 59 years despite a separation of 65 miles.
Arizona Reid scored 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Panthers (6-4), who shot 44 percent (30-of-69).
- NCAA BB
FINAL 1ST 2ND TOTAL
--- --- -----
HIGH POINT 28 41 69
NORTH CAROLINA (3) 45 49 94 FINAL
Dec 9 8:54 PM - NCAA BB
HIGH POINT 28
NORTH CAROLINA (3) 45 HALFTIME
Dec 9 7:44 PM
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