Tobacco Road Report

By Michael

Michigan State handled the Carolina pressure better than expected, but eventually ran out of gas with five minutes left to play. That's when the Tar Heel depth took over, allowing Carolina to earn the 81-67 victory and advance to the round of 16.

Earlier in the season, Michigan State looked like an average team. Yet Drew Neitzel continued to improve his game and established himself as the floor leader for Tom Izzo. The junior guard from Grand Rapids raised his scoring average from 8 points per game a year ago to over 18 this year, and in the process lifted the outlook for the Spartans.

Basketball is a team game, however, and Carolina's depth eventually wore Neitzel out. Though Neitzel led the Spartans with 26 points, he needed 27 shots and 6 of 17 from three to do it. Not exactly offensive efficiency.

In contrast, Tyler Hansbrough scored 33 points on 17 shots, getting much of his production from the line where he hit 13 of 17 attempts. Hansbrough didn't wear the mask yesterday and looked like the "Psycho T" Carolina fans adore.

The Tar Heels also found a second option on offense in Lawson who scored 20 points and a third option in Terry with 14 points. Lawson in particular had one of his best all around efforts, getting 5 rebounds and 8 assists to go along with his points while his 3 of 5 from beyond the arc provided the inside-outside balance that kept the MSU defense on its heels (pun intended).

Terry was excellent late hitting a two-point jumper, a three-point jumper, and 1 of 2 from the line in consecutive possessions to give Carolina its working margin down the stretch. Terry found his stride during the ACC Conference Tournament and has carried that over into the NCAA Tournament. Definitely a plus for Carolina's chances from here on out.

Brandon Wright didn't have an excellent game last night, but his super skywalker block in the final minutes put the fresh legs of Carolina on relief versus the dead wood MSU was dragging around.

The lack of offensive efficiency for the Spartans meant an EFG of 44 percent and 1.02 points per possession. The Tar Heels EFG was 54 percent and their 1.23 points per possession was as efficient as Carolina has been all year. Despite the slower tempo -- 66 possessions -- Carolina showed it can function in the half court against a good defensive squad. That's important given a potential matchup against Georgetown is looming in the round of eight should the Tar Heels advance.

Since I've been a bit critical of Roy's substitution pattern at times this year, I'll throw a bone back in his direction. I suggested in an earlier piece that Carolina needed to tighten the rotation in order to progress in the tournament. Roy's done just that, paring the rotation down to 7 or 8 players. Yesterday the rotation was 7 deep, but closer to 9 if you include 8 minutes by Green and 7 minutes by Wood. The balance seemed just right; the offense was fairly consistent throughout but substitutions were liberal to keep the Heels fresh mentally and physically late.