North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough (left) gets tangled up with Gonzaga guard Matt Bouldin during the NCAA Tournament on Friday.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Ty Lawson sat on the sideline with both feet propped up on a chair, shooting an occasional glance toward the court as his left ankle was re-taped.
He went back in the game a few moments later, but there was no rush. North Carolina had this one well under control.
Lawson scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half, and the top-seeded Tar Heels routed Gonzaga 98-77 in the South Regional on Friday night. They’ll play second-seeded Oklahoma on Sunday for a berth in the Final Four.
“If they play like that, they’re going to win the national championship,” Gonzaga’s Josh Heytvelt said. “They’d hit every shot, it seemed like. You can’t do anything on teams like that.”
Tyler Hansbrough added 24 points and 10 rebounds for North Carolina, which won its 99th NCAA Tournament game, breaking a tie with Kentucky for the most by any school.
Wayne Ellington scored 19 points and Danny Green added 13 for the Tar Heels (31-4), who reached the regional finals for the third straight year.
There was no jumping for joy afterward for this team – after losing to Kansas in the national semifinals last year, there was still work to do.
“It’s a very happy, relaxed, calm locker room,” coach Roy Williams said. “We’d like to stay here and play pretty well another day.”
Now, we’ll have a regional final with a little Duke-Carolina flavor. Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel used to play for the Blue Devils. He made one of the most famous shots in the Tobacco Road rivalry – a running buzzer-beater from around 35 feet that tied the teams’ 1995 matchup at Duke. The Tar Heels ended up winning in double overtime.
No. 2 Oklahoma 84, No. 3 Syracuse 71: At Memphis, Tenn., Blake Griffin bulled his way to 30 points and 14 rebounds, and Tony Crocker added a career-high 28 points as second-seeded Oklahoma beat Syracuse to reach its first regional final since 2003.
Griffin mowed over Syracuse’s gutsy guard Jonny Flynn going to the basket and also banged his noggin against the bottom of the backboard while going for a rim-rocking dunk.
Flynn led Syracuse with 22 points despite playing the second half with a bruised back from that collision.