UNC, UCLA Advance to San Antonio

North Carolina 83, Louisville 73

I hate to say it, but an absolutely brilliant game out of Hansbrough. To open the second half, as Louisville was starting to make a run, he made two extremely tough shots- one a fall away jumper, the other a very improbable layup after which he ended up on the floor. On the strength of five minutes of unusually intelligent Louisville basketball- not turning the ball over, taking decent shots, getting back in transition- an Earl Clark free throw tied it with 10:21 left. Hansbrough took over after that, with a combination of long jumpers and free throws. The other big shot belonged to Lawson, who hit a 3 to put UNC up 6 with 5 minutes left.

Not surprisingly, the turnovers really killed Louisville. In the second half, their shot selection improved, and they were getting the ball inside rather than throwing up shots from the perimeter. Unfortunately, getting the ball inside isn't very helpful if you travel after doing so, which Earl Clark managed to do three times.

The announcers for this one were comical. Dick Enberg does not know where he is, and at one point claimed that Hansbrough, with 9 assists, was nearing a triple double. He'd made a reasonable mistake, accidentally looking at Lawson's line, but anyone who was paying attention would've realized that there was no way Hansbrough had 9 assists. Enberg didn't. Bilas, who's usually decent, fell in love with Hansbrough just the same as every other announcer, yelling about how his heart and will as he was hitting 18-footers. Tonight, Hansbrough's dominant performances gave him a chance to take it to a whole new level, and he jumped at the opportunity. TH has come a very long way over the last three years, which is something that should be noted and complemented, rather than repeating the same meaningless praises. We know he plays hard. We get it.

Not to take anything away from Hansbrough, but it could've been a lot different. He was guarding Padgett, and could have been called for multiple fouls- something even Enberg noticed- in the second half. A turning point, which I believe happened when UNC was up 5 with about 3 minutes left, was when Hansbrough looked like he bumped Padgett, but instead the ref said that Padgett stepped out, and Carolina got the ball back.

The Cardinals just don't play like a very "well coached" team. They turned the ball over 37 times in their final two games, and shot 9/16 from the line tonight. Especially in the first half, they took way too many outside shots, which is not new. Williams, Smith, and Sosa combined to shoot about 35% from 3 this year, but that doesn't stop them from shooting. I understand they like to press a lot, but some of the baskets they gave up in transition, with the UNC guards getting behind the Louisville defenders, were inexcusable. It's hard to argue with Pitino's success, but I don't think this year's team was one of his better coaching jobs.

UCLA 76, Xavier 57

UCLA did not play well in the first half, at all. Xavier had multiple easy dunks inside, the Bruins kept turning the ball over, and Shipp was throwing up shots that weren't hitting anything. The fact that they were up 9 at the half did not bode well for the Musketeers, and UCLA pulled away after the break. Collison has been incredible- he made all three 3s he attempted, and is now 10/15 from deep in the tournament. Shipp was awful again (1/7 from the floor), but Mbah a Moute and Westbrook both showed up for a change, and that was enough for the Bruins to advance to their third straight Final Four.

There is now a 48% chance that all four #1 seeds reach San Antonio.

Update: Doug Gottlieb has informed us that Texas is the favorite tomorrow. He finishes his rant by saying, "I got Texas playing at home." Okay, sure, but what if they were playing in Houston?